The Plague of Hail

¹³Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so they can worship me. ¹⁴For this time I will send all my plagues upon your heart, upon your servants, and upon your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. ¹⁵For now I will stretch out my hand to strike you and your people with a plague, and you will be cut off from the earth. ¹⁶But I have raised you up for this very reason: to show my power through you, and so that my name will be declared throughout all the earth. ¹⁷Do you still exalt yourself against my people, refusing to let them go? ¹⁸Look, tomorrow about this time I will cause very severe hail to fall, such as has not been in Egypt since its foundation until now. ¹⁹So give the order now: bring your livestock and everything you have in the fields to shelter. Any person or animal left outside when the hail falls will die.'" ²⁰He who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses. ²¹But those who ignored the LORD's word left their servants and livestock out in the fields. ²²Then the LORD told Moses, "Stretch your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall across all of Egypt — on people, animals, and every plant in the fields." ²³Moses raised his staff toward the heavens, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, with lightning striking the ground. The LORD poured hail down on the land of Egypt. ²⁴There was hail, and fire mixed with the hail, very severe, unlike anything Egypt had experienced since it became a nation. ²⁵Throughout all of Egypt, the hail struck everything in the fields, both people and animals. It struck every plant and broke every tree in the fields. ²⁶The only place spared was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived. No hail fell there. ²⁷Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, "I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked." ²⁸"Pray to the LORD (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer." ²⁹Moses replied, "As soon as I leave the city, I'll lift my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and the hail will end — so you'll know that the earth belongs to the LORD. ³⁰But I know that you and your officials still don't truly fear the LORD God." ³¹The flax and barley crops were destroyed, since the barley had already formed heads and the flax was in bloom. ³²But the wheat and spelt survived because they hadn't matured yet. ³³Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. ³⁴But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he sinned again. He and his officials hardened their hearts. ³⁵Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he refused to let the Israelites go — exactly as the LORD had said through Moses.