But if you continue to restrain them and refuse to let them go,
Parallel translations
- WEB For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,
- KJV For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
- NKJV For if you refuse to let them go, and still hold them,
- NASB For if you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them,
- NLT If you continue to hold them and refuse to let them go,
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
God warns that continued refusal will bring consequence. It highlights Pharaoh's freedom and accountability in resisting God.
Overview
The conditional 'if you refuse' shows that the coming plague follows Pharaoh's willful obstinacy, holding him morally responsible. Even amid God's sovereign purposes, Scripture presents Pharaoh as genuinely culpable for hardening himself. This tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility runs through the whole exodus account. The verse warns that persistent resistance to God invites judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Exod 8:2But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs.
- Ps 68:21Surely God will crush the heads of His enemies, the hairy crowns of those who persist in guilty ways.
- Rom 2:8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
- Exod 4:23and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!’”
- Isa 1:20But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
- Ps 7:11–12God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation each day.
- Rev 2:21–22Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
- Lev 26:23–24And if in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me,
- Rev 16:9And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.
- Lev 26:14–16If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
- Lev 26:27–28But if in spite of all this you do not obey Me, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me,
- Exod 10:4But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow.
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 9:2 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.