World English Bible · Egypt and Sinai
Exodus 8
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
spoke to , "Go in to , and tell him, ', "Let my people go, that they may me. If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs. will swarm with frogs, which will go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. The frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants."'" said to , "Tell , 'Stretch out your hand with your over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of .'" stretched out his hand over the waters of ; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of . The magicians did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of . Then called for and , and said, "Entreat , that he take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may to ." said to , "I give you the of setting the time that I should for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and in the river only." said, "Tomorrow." said, "Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like our . The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall in the river only." and went out from , and cried to concerning the frogs which he had brought on . did according to the word of , and the frogs out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. But when saw that there was a respite, he hardened , and didn't listen to them, as had spoken. said to , "Tell , 'Stretch out your , and strike of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of .'" They did so; and stretched out his hand with his , and struck of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all of the earth became lice throughout all the land of . The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn't. There were lice on man, and on animal. Then the magicians said to , "This is finger;" but was hardened, and he didn't listen to them, as had spoken. said to , "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before ; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ', "Let my people go, that they may me. Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses. The houses of the shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground they are on. I will in that day the land of , in which my people , that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end you may know that I am on the earth. 23I will put a division between my people and your people. This sign shall happen by tomorrow."'" did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of , and into his servants' houses. In all the land of the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. called for and for , and said, "Go, to your in the land!" said, "It isn't appropriate to do so; for we shall the of the to our . Behold, if we the of the before their eyes, won't they stone us? We will go three days' journey into , and to our , as he shall command us." said, "I will let you go, that you may to your in , only you shall not go very far away. for me." said, "Behold, I am going out from you. I will to that the swarms of flies may depart from , from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don't let deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to to ." went out from , and to . 31 did according to the word of , and he removed the swarms of flies from , from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. hardened this time also, and he didn't let the people go.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Egypt and Sinai, 1450 BC to 1200 BC ›
Israel in and then out of Egypt, at a period when Egypt was an imperial power that also controlled Canaan. The nation is formed as a people with a law before it has any land.
- Egypt
- The New Kingdom at its imperial peak, with a professional army, a chariot corps, and control reaching up through Canaan. Ramesses II reigns for sixty-six years and covers the country in monuments to himself. Egyptian power in this period is the reason Canaan is garrisoned rather than free.
- The Hittites
- The other superpower, in what is now Turkey, and Egypt's rival for the Levant. The two fight the largest chariot battle of the ancient world at Kadesh, then sign a treaty whose text survives from both sides. Hittite treaty form, with its historical prologue, stipulations, witnesses, blessings, and curses, is the shape the Sinai covenant takes, which is one of the stronger arguments for the antiquity of that material.
- The Aegean
- Mycenaean Greece: warrior kings in stone citadels at Mycenae and Pylos, keeping palace accounts in Linear B. The world of the Trojan War stories, whatever lies behind them.
- Further afield
- The Shang dynasty in China is casting extraordinary bronzes and writing questions to its ancestors on ox bones. In Mesoamerica the Olmec are beginning the first civilisation of the Americas.