(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)

Va-era

6:2. And God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I AM the LORD*! 3. And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob by My name El Shaddai (God Almighty), but I was not known to them by My name LORD*. 4. And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. 5. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians are keeping in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.”

Origin of Communion

6:6. “Therefore say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM the LORD*, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rescue, deliver, you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments  7. and I will take you to Myself for a people, and I shall be God to you and you will know that I AM the LORD* your God, Who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8. And I shall bring you into the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob and I shall give it to you for a heritage. I AM the LORD*!’”

6:9. And Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses because of lack of spirit, and the hard labor.

6:10. And the LORD* spoke to Moses saying, 11. “Come in! Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to send the children of Israel out of his land.” 12. And Moses spoke before the LORD* saying, “See, the children of Israel have not listened to me, so how will Pharaoh listen to me? I am of uncircumcised, sealed, lips.” 13. And the LORD* spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

6:14. These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. 15. And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakhin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. 16. And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were a hundred thirty-seven years. 17. The sons of Gershon; Libni and Shimi, according to their families. 18. And the sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty-three years. 19. And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.

6:20. And Amram took Jochebed (Yokheved), his father’s sister, for his wife and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred thirty-seven years. 21. And the sons of Izhar; Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22. And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23. And Aaron took for himself Elisheva, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, for his wife and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Elazar, and Itamar. 24. And the sons of Korah; Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korahites. 25. And Elazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel for his wife and she bore Phineas. These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families. 26. These are the families of Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD* said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.” 27. These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are Moses and Aaron. 28. And it came to pass on the day when the LORD* spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

6:29. That the LORD* spoke to Moses saying, “I AM the LORD*! Tell everything that I say to you to Pharaoh king of Egypt.” 30. And Moses said before the LORD*, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised, sealed, lips, how will Pharaoh listen to me?”

Moses Prepares for Pharaoh

7.1. And the LORD* said to Moses, “See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. 2. You will speak all that I command you and Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh, so he will send the children of Israel out of his land. 3. And I shall harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4. But Pharaoh will not pay attention to you, so that I can lay My hand upon Egypt and bring out My armies, My people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5. And the Egyptians will know that I AM the LORD*, when I stretch forth My hand over Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

7:6. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD* commanded them, so they did. 7. And Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

7:8. And the LORD* spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying, 9. “When Pharaoh speaks to you saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourself!’ Then you will say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it before Pharaoh.’ It will become  a serpent.” 10. And Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and they did as the LORD* had commanded and Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. Now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12. For each man cast down his staff and they became serpents, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13. And He hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not pay attention to them, as the LORD* had said.

7:14. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. He refuses to send the people out. 15. Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Then, when he goes out to the water, you will stand by the river’s bank to meet him and you will take the staff which was turned to a serpent in your hand. 16. And you will say to him, ‘The LORD* God of the Hebrews has sent me to you saying, Send My people away! So they can serve Me in the wilderness. And behold, till now you would not listen. 17. Thus says the LORD*, By this you will know that I AM the LORD*! Behold, I shall strike the waters in the river with the staff that is in my hand, and they will be turned to blood.    (Rev. 11:6) 18. And the fish that are in the river will die and the river will stink and the Egyptians will not be able to drink the water of the river.’”

The Plagues Begin

7:19. And the LORD* spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff! Stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, so they will become blood, (Rev. 8:8) and there will be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.’” 20. (1st) And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD* commanded and he lifted up the staff and struck the waters in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21. And the fish in the river died and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river, and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.  (Rev. 16:3) 22. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments and Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened, and he did not listen to Moses and Aaron, as the LORD* had said. 23. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house and he did not pay attention to this either.  24. And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the river. 25. And seven days were fulfilled, after the LORD* had smitten the river. (Rev. 16:4)

7:26. And the LORD* spoke to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh! Say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD*, Send My people away! So they can serve Me! 27. And if you refuse to send them, behold, I AM will plague all your borders with frogs. 28. And the river will bring forth frogs abundantly, which will go up and come into your house, into your bedchamber, upon your bed, into the house of your servants, upon your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading-troughs. 29. And the frogs will come upon you, upon your people, and upon all your servants.’”

Frogs

8.1. And the LORD* spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, Stretch forth your hand with your staff over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.” 2. (2ND) And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 3. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

8:4. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the LORD*, so He will take the frogs away from me and from my people and I shall send the people out, so they can sacrifice to the LORD*.” 5. And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Glorify yourself over me! When will I plead for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, so they may just remain in the river?” 6. And he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “It will be according to your word so you will know that there is no one like the LORD* our God, 7. and the frogs will depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They will remain only in the river.” 8. And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh and Moses cried to the LORD* because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. 9. And the LORD* did according to the word of Moses and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. 10. And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 11. But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he strengthened his heart, and paid no attention to them, as the LORD* had said.

Lice

8:12. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, so there will be lice throughout all the land of Egypt.”      13. (3rd) And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice upon man and upon beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 14. And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice upon man and upon beast. 15. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened and he did not listen to them, as the LORD* had said.

8:16. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Behold, he comes out to the water here and say to him, “Thus says the LORD*, Send My people away! So they can serve Me! 17. Or else, if you will not send My people away, behold, I shall send swarms of flies upon you, upon your servants, upon your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians and also the ground that they are on will be full of swarms of flies. 18. And I shall sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, so no swarms of flies will be there, so you will know that I AM the LORD* in the midst of the earth. 19. And I shall put a division between My people and your people. This sign will happen tomorrow.”

Flies

8:20. (4th) And the LORD* did so and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies. 21. And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron and said, “Go! Sacrifice to your God in the land.”

8:22. And Moses said, “It is not right to do that, for our sacrifice to the LORD* our God will be an abomination for the Egyptians, so we will sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?  23. We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD* our God, as He will command us.” 24. And Pharaoh said, “I shall send you, so you can sacrifice to the LORD* your God in the wilderness, only you will not go very far away. Plead on my behalf!”

8:25. And Moses said, “See, I am going out from you and I shall plead with the LORD* that the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people, tomorrow, but Do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not sending the people to sacrifice to the LORD*!” 26. And Moses went out from Pharaoh and pled with the LORD*. 27. And the LORD* did according to the word of Moses and He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. 28. And Pharaoh strengthened his heart at this time too, he did not send the people out.

Send My People Away

9.1. Then the LORD* said to Moses, “Come in to Pharaoh! Tell him, ‘Thus says the LORD* God of the Hebrews, Send My people away! So they can serve Me!

2. For if you refuse to send them out and will still hold them, 3. behold, the hand of the LORD* is upon your cattle that are in the field, upon the horses, upon the donkeys, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there will be a very severe plague. 4. And the LORD* will separate between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt and nothing will die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.’” 5. And the LORD* appointed a set time saying, “Tomorrow the LORD* will do this thing in the land.”

Plague on Animals

9:6. (5th) And the LORD* did that thing on the next day and all the cattle of Egypt died, but not one of the cattle of the children of Israel died. 7. And Pharaoh sent and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was strengthened and he did not send the people out.

9:8. And the LORD* said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes of the furnace and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. 9. And it will become small dust in the whole land of Egypt and will be a boil breaking forth with boils upon man and upon beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”

Boils and Blisters

9:10. (6th) And they took kiln ashes and stood before Pharaoh and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven, and it became boils and blisters bursting forth upon man and upon beast. (Rev. 16:2) 11. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12. And the LORD* strengthened the heart of Pharaoh and he paid no attention to them, as the LORD* had told Moses.

9:13. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD* God of the Hebrews, Send My people away! So they can serve Me! 14. For I shall at this time send all My plagues upon your heart, upon your servants, and upon your people, so you will know that there is no one like Me. 15. For now I shall stretch out My hand, so I can strike you and your people with pestilence and you will be cut off from the earth. 16. And for this I have raised you up, in order to show you My power and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth. (Rom. 9:17)

9:17. “Do you still exalt yourself against My people, so that you will not send them out? 18. Behold, tomorrow about this time I shall cause it to rain a very severe hail, such as has not been in Egypt since its foundation even until now. 19. Therefore send now, gather your cattle and all that you have in the field, for every man and animal that is found in the field, and will not be brought home, the hail will come down upon them and they will die.” 20. He who feared the word of the LORD* among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses 21. and he who did not regard the word of the LORD* left his servants and his cattle in the field.

9:22. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward heaven, so there will be hail in the whole land of Egypt, upon man, upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

Hail

9:23. (7th) And Moses stretched forth his staff toward heaven and the LORD* sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground, and the LORD* rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24. So there was hail, and fire was flaming up amidst the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25. And the hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. (Rev. 8:7) 26. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

9:27. And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time: the LORD* is righteous and I and my people are wicked. 28. Plead with the LORD*, for it is enough, that there will be no more mighty thunderings and hail, and I shall send you out and you will stay no longer.”

9:29. And Moses said to him, “As soon as I leave the city, I shall spread abroad my hands to the LORD*, the thunders will cease, neither will there be any more hail, so you will know how that the earth is the LORD’s*. 30. But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet revere the LORD* God.” 31. And the flax and the barley were smitten, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bloom. 32. But the wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they had not grown up.

9:33. And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread his hands abroad to the LORD*, and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. 34. And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, he sinned yet more and strengthened his heart, he and his servants. 35. And the heart of Pharaoh was strengthened, and he would not send the children of Israel out, as the LORD* had spoken by Moses.

Next week’s Torah readings: Bo

(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)