For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,
Parallel translations
- KJV For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
- BSB But if you continue to restrain them and refuse to let them go,
- 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 8:2If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs:
- Ps 68:21But God will strike through the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness.
- Rom 2:8but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation,
- Exod 4:23and I have said to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me”; and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.’”
- Isa 1:20but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
- Ps 7:11–12God is a righteous judge, yes, a God who has indignation every day.
- Rev 2:21–22I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
- Lev 26:23–24“‘If by these things you won’t be reformed to me, but will walk contrary to me;
- Rev 16:9People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn’t repent and give him glory.
- Lev 26:14–16“‘But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments;
- Lev 26:27–28“‘If you in spite of this won’t listen to me, but walk contrary to me;
- Exod 10:4Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,
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.