20. Some of the king’s officers respected the word of the Lord. They hurried to bring their slaves and animals inside.
21. But others ignored the Lord’s message. They left their slaves and animals in the fields.
22. The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky. Then the hail will start falling over all the land of Egypt. It will fall on people, animals and on everything that grows in the fields of Egypt.”
23. So Moses raised his walking stick toward the sky. And the Lord sent thunder and hail. And lightning flashed down to the earth. So he caused hail to fall upon the land of Egypt.
24. There was hail, and there was lightning flashing as it hailed. This was the worst hailstorm in Egypt since it had become a nation.
25. The hail destroyed everything that was in the fields in all the land of Egypt. The hail destroyed both people and animals. It also destroyed everything that grew in the fields. It broke all the trees in the fields.
26. The only place it did not hail was in the land of Goshen. The people of Israel lived there.
27. The king sent for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right. And I and my people are in the wrong.
28. Pray to the Lord. We have had enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go. You do not have to stay here any longer.”
29. Moses told the king, “When I leave the city, I will raise my hands to the Lord in prayer. And the thunder and hail will stop. Then you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord.
30. But I know that you and your officers do not yet fear the Lord God.”
31. The flax was in bloom, and the barley had ripened. So these crops were destroyed.
32. But both wheat crops ripen later. So they were not destroyed.
33. Moses left the king and went outside the city. He raised his hands to the Lord. And the thunder and hail stopped. The rain also stopped falling to the ground.
34. The king saw that the rain, hail and thunder had stopped. Then he sinned again. He and his officers became stubborn again.
35. The king became stubborn and refused to let the Israelites go. This happened just as the Lord had said through Moses.