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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Malcom: Welcome To Immerse: The
Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 100 and 5
so the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron,
raise your staff and strike the ground.
The dust will turn into swarms of
gnats throughout the land of Egypt.
So Moses and Aaron did just as
the Lord had commanded them.
When Aaron raised his hand and struck
the ground with his staff, gnats
infested the entire land covering
the Egyptians and their animals.
All the dust in the land
of Egypt turned into gnats.
Pharaoh's magicians tried to do the same
thing with their secret arts, but this
time they failed, and the gnats covered
everyone, people, and animals alike.
This is the finger of God.
The magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh,
but Pharaoh's heart remained hard.
He wouldn't listen to them
just as the Lord had predicted.
Then the Lord told Moses, get up early in
the morning and stand in Pharaoh's way.
As he goes down to the river, say
to him, this is what the Lord says.
Let my people go so they can worship me.
If you refuse, then I will send swarms
of flies on you, your officials,
your people, and all the houses.
The Egyptian homes will be filled with
flies and the ground will be covered
with them, but this time I will spare the
region of Goshen where my people live.
No flies will be found there.
Then you will know that I am
the Lord and that I am present
even in the heart of your land.
I will make a clear distinction
between my people and your people.
This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow,
and the Lord did just as he had said,
a thick swarm of flies filled Pharaoh's
palace and the houses of his officials.
The whole land of Egypt
was thrown into chaos.
By the flies.
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron.
All right.
Go ahead and offer sacrifices to your God.
He said, but do it here in this land.
But Moses replied, that wouldn't be right.
The Egyptians detest the sacrifices
that we offer to the Lord our God.
Look, if we offer our sacrifices
here with the Egyptians can
see us, they will stone us.
We must take a three day trip into the
wilderness to offer sacrifices to the
Lord our God, just as he has commanded us.
All right, go ahead.
Pharaoh replied, I will let you
go into the wilderness to offer
sacrifices to the Lord your God.
But don't go too far away now.
Hurry and pray for me.
Moses answered.
As soon as I leave you, I will pray
to the Lord and tomorrow the swarms
of flies will disappear from you and
your officials and all your people.
But I am warning you, Pharaoh, don't
lie to us again and refuse to let the
people go to sacrifice to the Lord.
So Moses left Pharaoh's palace and
pleaded with the Lord to remove
all the flies, and the Lord did.
As Moses asked and caused the
swarms of flies to disappear from
Vero, his officials and his people.
Not a single fly remained.
But Pharaoh, again, became stubborn
and refused to let the people go.
Go back to Pharaoh.
The Lord commanded Moses tell him, this is
what the Lord the God of the Hebrews says,
let my people go so they can worship me.
If you continue to hold them and
refuse to let them go, the hand of the
Lord will strike all your livestock,
your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle,
sheep, and goats with a deadly plague.
But the Lord will again make a
distinction between the livestock of the
Israelites and that of the Egyptians.
Not a single one of
Israel's animals will die.
The Lord has already set the
time for the plague to begin.
He has declared that he will strike the
land tomorrow, and the Lord did just as
he had said the next morning, all the
livestock of the Egyptians died, but the
Israelites didn't lose a single animal.
Pharaoh sent his officials to
investigate and they discovered that the
Israelites had not lost a single animal.
But even so, Pharaoh's heart
remained stubborn and he still
refused to let the people go.
Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
take handfuls of soot from a brick kiln
and have Moses toss it into the air while
Pharaoh watches the ashes will spread like
fine dust over the whole land of Egypt,
causing festering boils to break out on
people and animals throughout the land.
So they took soot from a brick kiln
and went and stood before Pharaoh.
As Pharaoh watched Moses threw the
soot into the air, and Boyles broke
out on people and animals alike.
Even the magicians were unable to stand
before Moses because the boyles had
broken out on them and all the Egyptians,
but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart,
and just as the Lord had predicted
to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen.
Then the Lord said to Moses, get up early
in the morning and stand before Pharaoh.
Tell him this is what the Lord the
God of the Hebrews says, let my
people go so they can worship me.
If you don't, I will send more plagues on
you and your officials and your people.
Then you will know that there is
no one like me in all the Earth.
By now, I could have lifted my hand and
struck you and your people with a plague
to wipe you off the face of the earth.
But I have spared you for a purpose to
show you my power and to spread my fame
throughout the earth, but you still lorded
over my people and refused to let them go.
So tomorrow at this time, I will send
a hail storm more devastating than
any and all the history of Egypt.
Quick order your livestock and servants to
come in from the fields to find shelter.
Any person or animal left out
outside will die when the hell falls.
Some of Pharaoh's officials were afraid
because of what the Lord had said.
They quickly brought their servants
in livestock in from the fields.
But those who paid no attention
to the word of the Lord
left theirs out in the open.
Then the Lord said to Moses,
lift your hand toward the sky.
So hail may fall on the people,
the livestock, and all the plants
throughout the land of Egypt.
So Moses lifted his staff toward the
sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail
and lightning flesh toward the earth.
The Lord since a tremendous hail
storm against all the land of Egypt,
never in all the history of Egypt had
there been a storm like that with such
devastating hell and continuous lightning.
It left all of Egypt in ruins.
The hail struck down everything
in the open field, people,
animals, and plants alike.
Even the trees were destroyed.
The only place without hail
was the region of Goshen where
the people of Israel lived.
Then Pharaoh quickly
summoned Moses and Aaron.
This time I have sinned.
He confessed The Lord is the righteous
one, and my people and I are wrong.
Please beg the Lord to end this
terrifying thunder and hail.
We've had enough.
I will let you go.
You don't need to stay any longer.
All right, Moses replied, as soon
as I leave the city, I will lift
my hands and pray to the Lord.
Then the thunder and hail will
stop, and you will know that
the earth belongs to the Lord.
But I know that you and your officials
still do not fear the Lord God.
All the flax and barley were ruined
by the hail because the barley had
formed heads and the flax was budding.
But the wheat and the emer wheat
were spared because they had not
yet sprouted from the ground.
So Moses left Pharaoh's court
and went out of the city.
When he lifted his hands to
the Lord, the thunder and hail
stopped and the downpour ceased.
But when Pharaoh saw that the rain,
hail, and thunder had stopped, he
and his officials sinned again,
and Pharaoh again became stubborn.
Because his heart was hard, Pharaoh
refused to let the people leave just as
the Lord had predicted through Moses.
Then the Lord said to Moses, return to
Pharaoh and make your demands again.
I have made him and his official
stubborn so I can display my
miraculous signs among them.
I've also done it so you can tell your
children and grandchildren about how
I made a mockery of the Egyptians and
about the signs I displayed among them.
And so you will know that I am the Lord.
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh
and said, this is what the Lord the
God of the Hebrews says, how long
will you refuse to submit to me?
Let my people go so they can worship me.
If you refuse, watch out for
tomorrow, I will bring a swarm
of locusts on your country.
They will cover the land so that
you won't be able to see the ground.
They will devour what little is left of
your crops after the hailstorm, including
all the trees growing in the fields.
They will overrun your palaces
and the homes of your officials
and all the houses in Egypt.
Never in the history of Egypt have your
ancestors seen a plague like this one.
And with that, Moses turned and left.
Pharaoh, Pharaoh's officials now
came to Pharaoh and appeal to him.
How long will you let
this man hold us hostage?
Let the men go to worship
the Lord their God.
Don't you realize that
Egypt lies and ruins?
So Moses and Aaron were
brought back to Pharaoh.
All right.
He told them, go and
worship the Lord your God.
But who exactly will be going with you?
Moses replied, we will all go
young and old, our sons and
daughters, and our flocks and herds.
We must all join together in celebrating
a festival to the Lord Pharaoh Retorted.
The Lord will certainly
need to be with you.
If I let you take your little ones,
I can see through your evil plan.
Never only the men may go and worship the
Lord since that is what you requested and
Pharaoh through them out of the palace.
Then the Lord said to Moses,
raise your hand over the land
of Egypt to bring on the locus.
Let them cover the land and devour every
plant that survived the hell storm.
So Moses raised his staff over Egypt
and the Lord caused an east wind to blow
over the land all that day and through
the night when morning arrived, the
east wind had brought the locust and
the locusts swarmed over the whole land
of Egypt, settling in dense swarms from
one end of the country to the other.
It was the worst Locust plague in
Egyptian history, and there has
never been another one like it.
For the locust covered the whole
country and darkened the land.
They devoured every plant in the
fields and all the fruit on the trees
that had survived the hailstorm.
Not a single leaf was left on the trees
and plants throughout the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron.
I have sinned against the Lord
your God, and against you.
He confessed, forgive my sin just this
once, and plead with the Lord your
God, to take away this death from me.
So Moses left Pharaoh's court
and pleaded with the Lord.
The Lord responded by shifting
the wind and the strong West wind
blew the locust into the Red Sea.
Not a single locust remained in
all the land of Egypt, but the Lord
hardened Pharaoh's heart again, so
he refused to let the people go.
Then the Lord said to Moses, lift your
hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt
will be covered with a darkness so thick.
You can feel it.
So Moses lifted his hand to the
sky, and a deep darkness covered the
entire land of Egypt for three days.
During all that time, the people
could not see each other and no one
moved, but there was light as usual
where the people of Israel lived.
Finally, Pharaoh called for
Moses, go and worship the Lord.
He said, but leave your
flocks and herds here.
You may even take your
little ones with you.
No, Moses said You must provide
us with animals for sacrifices and
burnt offerings to the Lord our God.
All our livestock must go with us too.
Not a hoof can be left behind.
We must choose our sacrifices for
the Lord our God, from among these
animals, and we won't know how we are
to worship the Lord until we get there.
But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart
once more and he would not let them go.
Get out of here.
Pharaoh shouted at Moses.
I'm warning you never
come back to see me again.
The day you see my face,
you will die very well.
Moses replied, I will
never see your face again.
This concludes today's
Immer Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.