# Exodus 8.20-32 **Book:** [Exodus](/codex/exodus/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 18. And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: and there were lice upon man, and upon beast. 19. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as Jehovah had spoken. > > **20. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21. Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon they servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. 22. And I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am Jehovah in the midst of the earth. 23. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: by to-morrow shall this sign be. 24. And Jehovah did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. 25. And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. 26. And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Jehovah our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? 27. We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our God, as he shall command us. 28. And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: entreat for me. 29. And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat Jehovah that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to-morrow: only let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Jehovah. 30. And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated Jehovah. 31. And Jehovah did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. 32. And Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.** (Exodus 8:18-32, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 18. The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on man, and on animal. 19. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is God’s finger:” and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken. > > **20. Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21. Else, if you will not 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 shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. 22. I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh on the earth. 23. I will put a division between my people and your people: by tomorrow shall this sign be.”’” 24. Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. 25. Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!” 26. Moses said, “It isn’t appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Yahweh our God. Behold, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and won’t they stone us? 27. We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he shall command us.” 28. Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.” 29. Moses said, “Behold, I go out from you, and I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don’t let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.” 30. Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. 31. Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. 32. Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he didn’t let the people go.** (Exodus 8:18-32, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 18. And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. 19. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said. > > **20. And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21. Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. swarms: or, a mixture of noisome beasts, etc 22. And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. 23. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be. a division: Heb. a redemption to morrow: or, by to morrow 24. And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies. corrupted: or, destroyed 25. And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. 26. And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? 27. We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. 28. And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me. 29. And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD. 30. And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD. 31. And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. 32. And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.** (Exodus 8:18-32, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 18. And the scribes do so with their flashings, to bring out the gnats, and they have not been able, and the gnats are on man and on beast; 19. and the scribes say unto Pharaoh, 'It [is] the finger of God;' and the heart of Pharaoh is strong, and he hath not hearkened unto them, as Jehovah hath spoken. > > **20. And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Rise early in the morning, and station thyself before Pharaoh, lo, he is going out to the waters, and thou hast said unto him, Thus said Jehovah, Send My people away, and they serve Me; 21. for, if thou art not sending My people away, lo, I am sending against thee, and against thy servants, and against thy people, and against thy houses, the beetle, and the houses of the Egyptians have been full of the beetle, and also the ground on which they are. 22. 'And I have separated in that day the land of Goshen, in which My people are staying, that the beetle is not there, so that thou knowest that I [am] Jehovah in the midst of the land, 23. and I have put a division between My people and thy people: to-morrow is this sign.' 24. And Jehovah doth so, and the grievous beetle entereth the house of Pharaoh, and the house of his servants, and in all the land of Egypt the land is corrupted from the presence of the beetle. 25. And Pharaoh calleth unto Moses and to Aaron, and saith, 'Go, sacrifice to your God in the land;' 26. and Moses saith, 'Not right to do so, for the abomination of the Egyptians we do sacrifice to Jehovah our God; lo, we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and they do not stone us! 27. A journey of three days we go into the wilderness, and have sacrificed to Jehovah our God, as He saith unto us.' 28. And Pharaoh saith, 'I send you away, and ye have sacrificed to Jehovah your God in the wilderness, only go not very far off; make ye supplication for me;' 29. and Moses saith, 'Lo, I am going out from thee, and have made supplication unto Jehovah, and the beetle hath turned aside from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to-morrow, only let not Pharaoh add to deceive, in not sending the people away to sacrifice to Jehovah.' 30. And Moses goeth out from Pharaoh, and maketh supplication unto Jehovah, 31. and Jehovah doth according to the word of Moses, and turneth aside the beetle from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, there hath not been left one; 32. and Pharaoh hardeneth his heart also at this time, and hath not sent the people away.** (Exodus 8:18-32, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Hardening Pharaohs Heart Objection Defeater](/codex/hardening-pharaohs-heart-objection-defeater/), via [Exodus 8.32](/codex/exodus-8-32/) - [Hell as Eternal Torment Objection Defeater](/codex/hell-as-eternal-torment-objection-defeater/), via [Exodus 8.32](/codex/exodus-8-32/) **Concepts:** - [Hardening Pharaohs Heart](/codex/hardening-pharaohs-heart/), via [Exodus 8.32](/codex/exodus-8-32/) - [Plagues of Egypt](/codex/plagues-of-egypt/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.