(vi) Accordingly Moses and Aaron were commanded to take _handfuls of ashes of the furnace_, and _sprinkle_ them upwards _towards heaven_, and on their so doing, _Boils_ and _Blisters_, and other eruptive disorders, broke forth upon man and upon beast. Even the royal magicians suffered so terribly from this the _sixth_ plague, that they _could not stand before Moses_, but the heart of their master was still hardened, nor would he yield to the will of God (Ex. ix. 8–12). (vii) With still greater solemnity, therefore, the coming of the _Seventh_ Plague was announced to him, and he was warned to send his servants and gather together such of his cattle as were grazing in the fields, if he would not have them utterly destroyed by a terrible _Storm of thunder, lightning, and hail_[64]. By some, who heard the warning, it was heeded in time, by others it was utterly disregarded. But it was too surely fulfilled. Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and on the fair garden of Egypt, with its green meadows and fields of corn and barley and maize, the storm burst forth with unwonted fury. _The Lord thundered out of heaven, and the Highest gave His thunder_ (Ps. xviii. 13). _The fire ran along upon the ground_, the hail rattled, and smote _the vines and fig-trees_ (Ps. cv. 33), and every herb of the field, and every tree of the field, the barley then _in the ear_, and the flax then _bolled_ or risen in the stalk, as also the cattle and herdmen that had not been removed to any place of shelter. Alarmed beyond measure at this unexampled tempest, Pharaoh begged Moses to intercede for him, owned this time that he had sinned, that the Lord was righteous, that he and his people were wicked, and promised to do all that was required of him. But, as before, when the fury of the elements was hushed he refused to abide by his word (Ex. ix. 13–35).