The Lord told Moses, “Go to the king and tell him to let My people go so they can worship Me. If you refuse, I will punish your country by covering it with frogs. The Nile River will be full of frogs that will leave it and go to every part of your house, people, even the officials, ovens and baking pans. Also, tell Aaron to hold his walking stick over the rivers, canals, and pools, and make frogs come up and cover the land of Egypt.” And Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded him, even the magicians did the same thing with their frogs that came up on the land. The king called for Moses and Aaron to pray to the Lord to take the frogs away and to let His people go to offer the Lord’s sacrifices. Moses and Aaron prayed to the Lord to get rid of the frogs, and they died in the houses, country yards, and fields. The Egyptians piled the frogs up in great heaps until the land stank with them. When the frogs were gone, the king refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.
The Lord told Moses to tell Aaron to strike the ground with his stick, and all over the land of Egypt, the dust changed into gnats. Aaron did so and all the dust in Egypt was turned into gnats, which covered the people and the animals. The magicians tried to make gnats appear, but they failed. The magicians said, “God has done this!” But the king was stubborn and he wouldn’t listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
The Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to theo river tomorrow in the early morning to meet the king and tell him that the Lord said, ‘Let my people go so they will worship Me. But if you refuse, I will bring swarms of flies as punishment on you, your officials, and people. The Egyptians’ houses and the ground shall be filled with flies. But I will let My people live in Goshen, their region, so that there will be no flies there; you shall know that I, the Lord, do My work in this land. I will provide a distinction between both peoples. The miracle will take place tomorrow.’” The Lord brought many swarms of flies into the king’s palace and onto the officials’ houses. The whole land of Egypt was ruined by flies. The king called to Moses and Aaron, “Go and offer your sacrifices to God here in this country.” Moses said to the king, “It would not be right to do that. If we use the animals and offend the Egyptians by sacrificing them where they will see us, then they will stone us to death. We will travel to the desert for three days to offer sacrifices to our Lord just as He has ordered us.” The king replied, “I will now let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord in the desert if you can’t go very far, and please pray for me.”
Moses said, “As soon as I depart, I will pray to the Lord that tomorrow, the flies will leave you, your officials, and people. But you must not deceive us again and prevent the people from going to sacrifices to the Lord.” Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord did as Moses asked. All the flies left the king, his officials, and people; not one fly remained. But even this time, the king became stubborn, and again, he won’t let the people go.