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Exodus 9

KJV · Chapter 9/40

1Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

2For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,

3Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

4And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel.

5And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land.

6And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.

7And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

8And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

9And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.

10And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.

11And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.

12And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken unto Moses.

13And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

14For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.

15For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.

16And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

17As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?

18Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.

19Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.

20He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses:

21And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.

22And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.

23And Moses stretched forth his rod 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.

24So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

25And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.

26Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

27And 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.

28Intreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.

29And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord’s.

30But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God.

31And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.

32But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up.

33And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the Lord: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.

34And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

35And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the Lord had spoken by Moses.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God sends further plagues upon Egypt: the death of the livestock, boils, and hail; Pharaoh continues to harden his heart even while momentarily acknowledging 'I have sinned' in the face of the devastation.

Explanation

This chapter intensifies the demonstration of God's power over creation and over the human body itself, with plagues that strike directly at the Egyptians' economy (loss of livestock) and physical health (boils), always sparing the people of Israel in the land of Goshen. The plague of hail, described as 'the worst since Egypt became a nation,' shows a deliberate escalation in the intensity of the judgments, allowing time for genuine repentance, but also demonstrating that God's patience has a greater educational purpose: 'that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth' (v. 14). Pharaoh's partial reaction, momentarily acknowledging 'I have sinned... the LORD is righteous' (v. 27) but reversing course as soon as the threat passes, illustrates the difference between circumstantial remorse and true, lasting repentance. Today's lesson is that acknowledging a wrong under pressure is not the same as a genuine change of heart and conduct.

Fun facts

  • The mention that some of Pharaoh's servants 'feared the word of the LORD' and brought their livestock to shelter before the hail (v. 20) shows that, even within Egypt, there were people beginning to recognize the authority of the God of Israel, suggesting that Moses' message was already reaching some Egyptian hearts individually.
  • The plague of boils that strikes even the Egyptian magicians themselves, preventing them from continuing to compete with Moses (v. 11), marks the moment when Israel's spiritual opponents are decisively silenced, no longer able to imitate the divine signs.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Exodus 9:1It opens the fifth plague with the same request repeated every round: Moses must demand the people’s release before any new punishment is announced to Pharaoh.
  2. Exodus 9:2The phrase makes clear that Pharaoh’s refusal is not passive: he is actively determined to “hold them still” and keep the people from leaving.
  3. Exodus 9:3The plague announced this time is a pestilence that strikes the Egyptian livestock, animals essential for transport as well as food and farm labor.
  4. Exodus 9:4It repeats the pattern already seen with the flies: God separates what belongs to Israel from what belongs to Egypt, showing that the plague has a defined target.
  5. Exodus 9:5Unlike earlier plagues, this time God marks in advance the exact moment the punishment will begin: the next day.
  6. Exodus 9:6Here the text says that “all the cattle” of the Egyptians died in the plague of pestilence, but just a few verses later, in the plague of hail, Egyptian cattle still appear in the field being struck. A common explanation is that “all” refers to the cattle that were exposed in the field at that moment, since part of the herds may have been restocked afterward.
  7. Exodus 9:7Even after confirming, through messengers, that the Hebrew livestock really was untouched, Pharaoh remains unyielding and does not change his decision.
  8. Exodus 9:8The sixth plague begins in a different way: instead of water or animals, Moses and Aaron use furnace ashes, thrown into the wind right in front of Pharaoh.
  9. Exodus 9:9The ash turns into a fine dust that causes sores and boils breaking out on the skin, striking both people and animals throughout Egypt.
  10. Exodus 9:10The plague comes to pass exactly as announced as soon as Moses throws the ash into the air, before Pharaoh’s own eyes.
  11. Exodus 9:11For the second time in a row the Egyptian magicians cannot compete with the sign: this time they themselves end up covered in sores, unable to imitate Moses.
  12. Exodus 9:12It is the first time the text directly attributes the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart to God, rather than to Pharaoh’s own choice — a point debated among scholars.
  13. Exodus 9:13Before the seventh plague, God repeats the same routine of approaching Pharaoh in the morning with the request for the people’s freedom.
  14. Exodus 9:14God announces that this plague will be more severe than the earlier ones, striking Pharaoh himself directly, not just the Egyptian people in general.
  15. Exodus 9:15God explains that He could already have destroyed Pharaoh and Egypt completely with a pestilence, but chose a different path, explained in the next verse.
  16. Exodus 9:16When God says He “raised thee up” to show His power and spread His name throughout the earth, it does not mean Pharaoh was created only to suffer the plagues. It is more in the sense that God allowed him to reach the throne and keep resisting, using that resistance to make the confrontation more visible to everyone.
  17. Exodus 9:17God’s question exposes Pharaoh’s ongoing stubbornness, who keeps resisting even after so many signs already confirmed.
  18. Exodus 9:18The plague of hail is announced as something unprecedented, stronger than any storm ever seen since Egypt was founded as a nation.
  19. Exodus 9:19God gives Pharaoh and the Egyptians a chance to protect people and animals by bringing them indoors before the storm — an unusual warning among the plagues.
  20. Exodus 9:20Some Egyptians take the warning seriously and bring their servants and animals indoors, showing that not every Egyptian completely ignored Moses’s warnings.
  21. Exodus 9:21Others ignore the warning and leave everything exposed in the field, suffering the consequences the hail brings in the rest of the chapter.
  22. Exodus 9:22Moses receives the order to stretch out his hand toward the sky, the gesture that will unleash the hailstorm over the whole land of Egypt.
  23. Exodus 9:23The storm combines three elements at once, thunder, hail, and fire running along the ground, likely lightning, in a scene of rare intensity.
  24. Exodus 9:24The text reinforces that this particular storm had no precedent since Egypt had existed as an organized nation.
  25. Exodus 9:25The destruction strikes everything left exposed in the field, people, animals, crops, and trees, sparing nothing that had not been brought in on time.
  26. Exodus 9:26Once again the region of Goshen, where the Hebrews lived, falls outside the reach of the plague, reinforcing the pattern of specific protection over Israel.
  27. Exodus 9:27It is the first time Pharaoh admits guilt in his own words, but the text soon shows, in the next verse, that it is a repentance born of distress, one that fades as soon as the plague stops. It is not a real change of character, but a momentary reaction under pressure.
  28. Exodus 9:28Pharaoh asks for the storm to stop and promises, in exchange, to let the people go — the same bargain already made and broken in earlier plagues.
  29. Exodus 9:29Moses agrees to pray, but chooses to do so outside the city, and takes the chance to stress that the whole point is to show that the earth belongs to God.
  30. Exodus 9:30Even while agreeing to pray, Moses already suspects that Pharaoh and his servants will not truly change their attitude once the plague has passed.
  31. Exodus 9:31The detail that the barley was already “in the ear” and the flax “bolled” — and so destroyed — while the wheat and the rye escaped because they were still lower, serves to mark the time of year the plague happened, in the middle of the Egyptian spring. It is an agricultural detail that helps place the scene in time, not a matter of faith.
  32. Exodus 9:32The wheat and the rye escape destruction only because they had not yet sprouted enough at the time of the storm, a detail that helps place the season of the year.
  33. Exodus 9:33Keeping his word, Moses leaves the city and prays, and the storm stops immediately, as had been promised to Pharaoh.
  34. Exodus 9:34As soon as he sees the storm end, Pharaoh goes back on his promise again, repeating the pattern of fleeting repentance already seen before.
  35. Exodus 9:35The chapter closes confirming once more that Pharaoh does not let the people go, exactly as God had warned Moses from the beginning.

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