Exodus 8

Read the chapter

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ✦ ²But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I am going to strike your entire territory with frogs. ✦ ³The Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your house, and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls. ✦ ⁴So the frogs will come up on you, your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ” ✦ ⁵Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” ✦ ⁶So Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ✦ ⁷However, the soothsayer priests did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up on the land of Egypt. ✦ ⁸Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.” ✦ ⁹And Moses said to Pharaoh, “The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I plead for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they be left only in the Nile?” ✦ ¹⁰Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ✦ ¹¹The frogs will depart from you and your houses, and from your servants and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.” ✦ ¹²Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had inflicted upon Pharaoh. ✦ ¹³The Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. ✦ ¹⁴So they piled them in heaps, and the land stank. ✦ ¹⁵But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. ✦ ¹⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may turn into gnats through all the land of Egypt.’ ” ✦ ¹⁷They did so; and Aaron extended his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on every person and animal. All the dust of the earth turned into gnats through all the land of Egypt. ✦ ¹⁸The soothsayer priests tried with their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not; so there were gnats on every person and animal. ✦ ¹⁹Then the soothsayer priests said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. ✦ ²⁰Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he comes out to the water; and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ✦ ²¹For if you are not going to 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; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they live. ✦ ²²But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that I, the Lord, am in the midst of the land. ✦ ²³I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will occur.” ’ ” ²⁴Then the Lord did so. And thick swarms of flies entered the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants, and the land was laid waste because of the swarms of flies in all the land of Egypt. ✦ ²⁵Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” ✦ ²⁶But Moses said, “It is not permissible for us to do so, because we will sacrifice to the Lord our God that which is an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice that which is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? ✦ ²⁷We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, just as He commands us.” ✦ ²⁸Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, so that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Plead for me.” ✦ ²⁹Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going to leave you, and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” ✦ ³⁰So Moses left Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. ✦ ³¹The Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. ³²But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Exod 8 ·19 Exod 9 ·14 Exod 7 ·13 Exod 10 ·9 Ps 78 ·6 Ps 105 ·6 Exod 3 ·6 Exod 12 ·4

Christ at the center

The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.

How Exodus 8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical
On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
VideoSpoken GospelSpoken Gospel · Free · evangelical
Short, gospel-centered videos and spoken-word poems showing how each passage points to Jesus — especially strong on the Old Testament.
DocumentaryPatterns of Evidence: The ExodusTim Mahoney · Paid · evangelical
Investigates the archaeological evidence for the Exodus. Note: it advances a minority biblical chronology that mainstream scholars dispute — engaging, but weigh its conclusions critically.

Pastoral

★ Start hereCommentaryExodus (New American Commentary)Douglas K. Stuart · Paid · evangelical
The best evangelical, semi-technical commentary on Exodus — accessible to pastors and serious students.
DocumentaryThat the World May KnowRay Vander Laan · Paid · evangelical
Ray Vander Laan's on-location series immersing you in the Bible's historical and cultural world. (Mostly paid via Focus on the Family; some free clips.)
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 8YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Exodus 8David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Exodus 8Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

← Exodus 7 Exodus 9 →