Parashat Vaera 5784 / פָּרָשַׁת וָאֵרָא Torah Portion: Exodus 6:2-9:35 Triennial Year 2: Ex. 7:8-1:15

(8) יהוה said to Moses and Aaron, (9) “When Pharaoh speaks to you and says, ‘Produce your marvel,’ you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh.’ It shall turn into a serpent.” (10) So Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh and did just as יהוה had commanded: Aaron cast down his rod in the presence of Pharaoh and his courtiers, and it turned into a serpent. (11) Then Pharaoh, for his part, summoned the sages and the sorcerers; and the Egyptian magician-priests, in turn, did the same with their spells: (12) each cast down his rod, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods. (13) Yet Pharaoh’s heart stiffened and he did not heed them, as יהוה had said.

(14) And יהוה said to Moses, “Pharaoh is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. (15) Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is coming out to the water, and station yourself before him at the edge of the Nile, taking with you the rod that turned into a snake. (16) And say to him, ‘יהוה, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let My people go that they may worship Me in the wilderness.” But you have paid no heed until now. (17) Thus says יהוה, “By this you shall know that I am יהוה.” See, I shall strike the water in the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood; (18) and the fish in the Nile will die. The Nile will stink so that the Egyptians will find it impossible to drink the water of the Nile.’”

(19) And יהוה said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Take your rod and hold out your arm over the waters of Egypt—its rivers, its canals, its ponds, all its bodies of water—that they may turn to blood; there shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.” (20) Moses and Aaron did just as יהוה commanded: he lifted up the rod and struck the water in the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and his courtiers, and all the water in the Nile was turned into blood (21) and the fish in the Nile died. The Nile stank so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile; and there was blood throughout the land of Egypt. (22) But when the Egyptian magician-priests did the same with their spells, Pharaoh’s heart stiffened and he did not heed them—as יהוה had spoken. (23) Pharaoh turned and went into his palace, paying no regard even to this. (24) And all the Egyptians had to dig round about the Nile for drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the Nile. (25) When seven days had passed after יהוה struck the Nile,

(26) יהוה said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says יהוה: Let My people go that they may worship Me. (27) If you refuse to let them go, then I will plague your whole country with frogs. (28) The Nile shall swarm with frogs, and they shall come up and enter your palace, your bedchamber and your bed, the houses of your courtiers and your people, and your ovens and your kneading bowls. (29) The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your courtiers.’”

(1) And יהוה said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Hold out your arm with the rod over the rivers, the canals, and the ponds, and bring up the frogs on the land of Egypt.” (2) Aaron held out his arm over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. (3) But the magician-priests did the same with their spells, and brought frogs upon the land of Egypt. (4) Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with יהוה to remove the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to יהוה.” (5) And Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have this triumph over me: for what time shall I plead in behalf of you and your courtiers and your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses, to remain only in the Nile?” (6) “For tomorrow,” he replied. And [Moses] said, “As you say—that you may know that there is none like our God יהוה;

(7) the frogs shall retreat from you and your courtiers and your people; they shall remain only in the Nile.” (8) Then Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s presence, and Moses cried out to יהוה in the matter of the frogs which had been inflicted upon Pharaoh. (9) And יהוה did as Moses asked; the frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. (10) And they piled them up in heaps, till the land stank. (11) But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he became stubborn and would not heed them, as יהוה had spoken.

(12) Then יהוה said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Hold out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, and it shall turn to lice throughout the land of Egypt.” (13) And they did so. Aaron held out his arm with the rod and struck the dust of the earth, and vermin came upon human and beast; all the dust of the earth turned to lice throughout the land of Egypt. (14) The magician-priests did the like with their spells to produce lice, but they could not. The vermin remained upon human and beast; (15) and the magician-priests said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart stiffened and he would not heed them, as יהוה had spoken.

(25) Thus said the Sovereign GOD: When I have gathered the House of Israel from the peoples among which they have been dispersed, and have shown Myself holy through them in the sight of the nations, they shall settle on their own soil, which I gave to My servant Jacob, (26) and they shall dwell on it in security. They shall build houses and plant vineyards, and shall dwell on it in security, when I have meted out punishment to all those about them who despise them. And they shall know that I the ETERNAL One am their God. (1) In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of GOD came to me: (2) O mortal, turn your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. (3) Speak these words:Thus said the Sovereign GOD:I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt,Mighty monster, sprawling in your channels,Who said,My Nile is my own;I made it for myself. (4) I will put hooks in your jaws,And make the fish of your channelsCling to your scales;I will haul you up from your channels,With all the fish of your channelsClinging to your scales. (5) And I will fling you into the desert,With all the fish of your channels.You shall be left lying in the open,Ungathered and unburied:I have given you as foodTo the beasts of the earthAnd the birds of the sky. (6) Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall knowThat I am GOD.Because you were a staff of reedTo the House of Israel: (7) When they grasped you with the hand, you would splinter,And wound all their shoulders, And when they leaned on you, you would break,And make all their loins unsteady. (8) Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign GOD: Lo, I will bring a sword against you, and will cut off human and animal from you, (9) so that the land of Egypt shall fall into desolation and ruin. And they shall know that I am GOD —because he boasted, “The Nile is mine, and I made it.” (10) Assuredly, I am going to deal with you and your channels, and I will reduce the land of Egypt to utter ruin and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, all the way to the border of Cush. (11) No human foot shall traverse it, and no animal foot shall traverse it; and it shall remain uninhabited for forty years. (12) For forty years I will make the land of Egypt the most desolate of desolate lands, and its cities shall be the most desolate of ruined cities. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. (13) Further, thus said the Sovereign GOD: After a period of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were dispersed. (14) I will restore the fortunes of the Egyptians and bring them back to the land of their origin, the land of Pathros, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. (15) It shall be the lowliest of all the kingdoms, and shall not lord it over the nations again. I will reduce the Egyptians, so that they shall have no dominion over the nations. (16) Never again shall they be the trust of the House of Israel, recalling its guilt in having turned to them. And they shall know that I am the Sovereign GOD. (17) In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of GOD came to me: (18) O mortal, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon has made his army expend vast labor on Tyre; every head is rubbed bald and every shoulder scraped. But he and his army have had no return for the labor he expended on Tyre. (19) Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign GOD: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon. He shall carry off her wealth and take her spoil and seize her booty; and she shall be the recompense of his army. (20) As the wage for which he labored, for what they did for Me, I give him the land of Egypt—declares the Sovereign GOD. (21) On that day I will endow the House of Israel with strength, and you shall be vindicated among them. And they shall know that I am GOD.

(25) Thus said the Sovereign GOD: When I have gathered the House of Israel from the peoples among which they have been dispersed, and have shown Myself holy through them in the sight of the nations, they shall settle on their own soil, which I gave to My servant Jacob, (26) and they shall dwell on it in security. They shall build houses and plant vineyards, and shall dwell on it in security, when I have meted out punishment to all those about them who despise them. And they shall know that I the ETERNAL One am their God. (1) In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of GOD came to me: (2) O mortal, turn your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. (3) Speak these words:Thus said the Sovereign GOD:I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt,Mighty monster, sprawling in your channels,Who said,My Nile is my own;I made it for myself. (4) I will put hooks in your jaws,And make the fish of your channelsCling to your scales;I will haul you up from your channels,With all the fish of your channelsClinging to your scales. (5) And I will fling you into the desert,With all the fish of your channels.You shall be left lying in the open,Ungathered and unburied:I have given you as foodTo the beasts of the earthAnd the birds of the sky. (6) Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall knowThat I am GOD.Because you were a staff of reedTo the House of Israel: (7) When they grasped you with the hand, you would splinter,And wound all their shoulders, And when they leaned on you, you would break,And make all their loins unsteady. (8) Assuredly, thus said the Sovereign GOD: Lo, I will bring a sword against you, and will cut off human and animal from you, (9) so that the land of Egypt shall fall into desolation and ruin. And they shall know that I am GOD —because he boasted, “The Nile is mine, and I made it.” (10) Assuredly, I am going to deal with you and your channels, and I will reduce the land of Egypt to utter ruin and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, all the way to the border of Cush. (11) No human foot shall traverse it, and no animal foot shall traverse it; and it shall remain uninhabited for forty years. (12) For forty years I will make the land of Egypt the most desolate of desolate lands, and its cities shall be the most desolate of ruined cities. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.

(21) On that day I will endow the House of Israel with strength, and you shall be vindicated among them. And they shall know that I am GOD.