Exodus 8:16-32 ▼

16 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch forth thy rod with thy hand and smite the dust of the earth; and there shall be lice both upon man, and upon quadrupeds, and in all the land of Egypt.

17 So Aaron stretched out his rod with his hand, and smote the dust of the earth; and the lice were on men and on quadrupeds, and in all the dust of the earth there were lice.

18 And the charmers also did so with their sorceries, to bring forth the louse, and they could not. And the lice were both on the men and on the quadrupeds.

19 So the charmers said to Pharao, This is the finger of God. But the heart of Pharao was hardened, and he hearkened not to them, as the Lord said.

20 And the Lord said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharao: and behold, he will go forth to the water, and thou shalt say to him, These things says the Lord: Send away my people, that they may serve me in the wilderness.

21 And if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I send upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and upon your houses, the dog-fly; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with the dog-fly, even throughout the land upon which they are.

22 and I will distinguish marvellously in that day the land of Gesem, on which my people dwell, in which the dog-fly shall not be: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord the God of all the earth.

23 And I will put a difference between my people and thy people, and on the morrow shall this be on the land. And the Lord did thus.

24 And the dog-fly came in abundance into the houses of Pharao, and into the houses of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt; and the land was destroyed by the dog-fly.

25 And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, saying, Go and sacrifice to the Lord your God in the land.

26 And Moses said, It cannot be so, for we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God the abominations of the Egyptians; for if we sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians before them, we shall be stoned.

27 We will go a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as the Lord said to us.

28 And Pharao said, I will let you go, and do ye sacrifice to your God in the wilderness, but do not go very far away: pray then for me to the Lord.

29 And Moses said, I then will go forth from thee and pray to God, and the dog-fly shall depart both from thy servants, and from thy people to-morrow. Do not thou, Pharao, deceive again, so as not to send the people away to do sacrifice to the Lord.

30 And Moses went out from Pharao, and prayed to God.

31 And the Lord did as Moses said, and removed the dog-fly from Pharao, and from his servants, and from his people, and there was not one left.

32 And Pharao hardened his heart, even on this occasion, and he would not send the people away.