Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said. “The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
Parallel translations
- WEB Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
- KJV And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
- NKJV And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked.
- NASB Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time; the Lord is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones.
- NLT Then Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he confessed. “The Lord is the righteous one, and my people and I are wrong.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Pharaoh summons Moses and confesses, 'I have sinned; Yahweh is righteous.' His admission is striking but proves shallow.
Overview
For the first time Pharaoh acknowledges his sin and Yahweh's righteousness, a remarkable confession from Egypt's ruler. Yet subsequent verses show this repentance is driven by the storm, not by a changed heart. The scene illustrates the difference between worldly sorrow under pressure and true repentance. It warns that acknowledging guilt with the lips is not the same as turning to God in the heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 129:4The LORD is righteous; He has cut me from the cords of the wicked.
- Lam 1:18The LORD is righteous, for I have rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into captivity.
- 2 Chr 12:6So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.”
- Exod 10:16Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
- Ps 145:17The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
- Matt 27:4“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.”
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Dan 9:14Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice.
- Rom 2:5But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- Num 22:34“I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.”
- Ps 9:16The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
- 1 Sam 15:24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
- 1 Sam 26:21Then Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. I will never harm you again, because today you considered my life precious. I have played the fool and have committed a grave error!”
- 1 Sam 15:30“I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 9:27 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.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.