The Lord said to Moses to go to the king and tell him that if he refuses to let His people go, the Lord will punish him and bring a terrible disease to all the animals. The Lord then will make a difference between the animals of the Israelites and Egyptians. The next day, the Lord did the thing as promised, and all the animals of the Egyptians died, but not one of the animals of the Israelites had died. But the king was stubborn and would not let the people go. The Lord told Moses and Aaron to take ash handfuls, have Moses throw the ash into the air in front of the king, and to spread out and produce boils in the land of Egypt. The boils became open sores on the people and animals. The magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because they were covered with boils. But the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.
The Lord said to Moses, “Early tomorrow morning, meet with the king and say to him that there will be none like Me in all of the earth. If I raised my hands to strike you and your people with a disease, you would have been completely destroyed. But to show My power, I have let you live so that my fame will be spread throughout the world. Tomorrow, I will cause the biggest hailstorm in the history of Egypt. The people and animals inside the shelter will be protected, but if not, they will all die.” Moses raised his stick toward the sky. The Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the ground. In the land of Goshen, however, there wasn’t any hail. The king said to Moses and Aaron, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is right, and my people and I are wrong. Pray to the Lord! We’ve had enough of the thunder and hail! I promise to let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.” Moses said to the king, “As soon as I leave the city, I will raise my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder and hail will stop so that you can know that the earth belongs to the Lord. I know that you and your officials don’t fear the Lord God.” When the king saw that the thunder and hail had stopped, he sinned again and wouldn’t let the Israelites go.