8:16. And the Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Stretch forth thy rod, and strike the dust of the earth; and may there be sciniphs in all the land of Egypt. Sciniphs.... Or Cinifs, Hebrew Chinnim, small flying insects, very troublesome both to men and beast. 8:17. And they did so. And Aaron stretched forth his hand, holding the rod; and he struck the dust of the earth, and there came sciniphs on men and on beasts: all the dust of the earth was turned into sciniphs through all the land of Egypt. 8:18. And the magicians with their enchantments practised in like manner, to bring forth sciniphs, and they could not: and there were sciniphs as well on men as on beasts. 8:19. And the magicians said to Pharao: This is the finger of God. And Pharao’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had commanded. 8:20. The Lord also said to Moses: Arise early, and stand before Pharao; for he will go forth to the waters: and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Let my people go to sacrifice to me. 8:21. But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will send in upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy houses, all kind of flies: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with flies of divers kinds, and the whole land wherein they shall be. 8:22. And I will make the land of Gessen wherein my people is, wonderful in that day, so that flies shall not be there: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. 8:23. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be. 8:24. And the Lord did so. And there came a very grievous swarm of flies into the houses of Pharao and of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt: and the land was corrupted by this kind of flies. 8:25. And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Go and sacrifice to your God in this land. 8:26. And Moses said: It cannot be so: for we shall sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: now if we kill those things which the Egyptians worship, in their presence, they will stone us. The abominations, etc.... That is, the things they worship for Gods: oxen, rams, etc. It is the usual style of the scriptures to call all idols and false gods, abominations, to signify how much the people of God ought to detest and abhor them. 8:27. We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness; and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us. 8:28. And Pharao said: I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but go no farther: pray for me. 8:29. And Moses said: I will go out from thee, and will pray to the Lord: and the flies shall depart from Pharao, and from his servants, and from his people to morrow: but do not deceive any more, in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. 8:30. So Moses went out from Pharao, and prayed to the Lord.