7 (24) And all Miżrayim dug round about the River for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the River.

(25) And seven days were completed, after the Lord had smitten the River.

(26) And the Lord spoke to Moshe, Go to Par῾o, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

(27) And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

(28) and the river shall bring forth frogs in swarms, and these will go up and come into thy house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy ovens, and into thy kneading troughs:

(29) and the frogs shall come up both on thee, and on thy people, and on all thy servants.

8 (1) And the Lord spoke to Moshe, Say to Aharon, Stretch forth thy hand with thy rod over the streams, over the canals, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Miżrayim.

(2) And Aharon stretched out his hand over the waters of Miżrayim. And the frogs came up, and covered the land of Miżrayim.

(3) And the magicians did so with their secret arts, and brought up frogs on the land of Miżrayim.

(4) Then Par῾o called to Moshe and Aharon, and said, Entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice to the Lord.

(5) And Moshe said to Par῾o, Challenge me to fix a time when I should entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the River only?

(6) And he said, Tomorrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayst know that there is none like the Lord our God.

8 (7) And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the River only.

(8) And Moshe and Aharon went out from Par῾o: and Moshe cried to the Lord because of the frogs which he had brought against Par῾o.

(9) And the Lord did according to the word of Moshe; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.

(10) And they gathered them together in heaps: and the land stank.

(11) But when Par῾o saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not to them; as the Lord had said.

(12) And the Lord said to Moshe, Say to Aharon, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may turn into lice throughout all the land of Miżrayim.

(13) And they did so; for Aharon stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Miżrayim.

(14) And the magicians did so with their secret arts to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice on man and beast.

(15) Then the magicians said to Par῾o, This is the finger of God: and Par῾o’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not to them; as the Lord had said.

(16) And the Lord said to Moshe, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Par῾o; lo he comes forth to the water; and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

(17) Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of gnats upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of Miżrayim shall be full of swarms of gnats, and also the ground on which they are.

(18) And I will separate in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of gnats shall be there; to the end that thou mayst know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

8 (19) And I will put a division between my people and thy people: tomorrow shall this sign be.

(20) And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of gnats into the house of Par῾o, and into his servants’ houses; and in all the land of Miżrayim the land was devastated by reason of the swarm of gnats.

(21) And Par῾o called for Moshe and for Aharon, and said, Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.

(22) And Moshe said, It is not proper so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of Miżrayim to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of Miżrayim before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

(23) We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us.

(24) And Par῾o said, I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away: entreat for me.

(25) And Moshe said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat the Lord that the swarm of gnats may depart from Par῾o, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow: but let not Par῾o deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.

(26) And Moshe went out from Par῾o, and entreated the Lord.

(27) And the Lord did according to the word of Moshe; and he removed the swarm of gnats from Par῾o, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.

(28) And Par῾o hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

9 (1) Then the Lord said to Moshe, Go in to Par῾o, and tell him, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

(2) For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,

(3) behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous plague.

(4) And the Lord shall separate the cattle of Yisra᾽el from the cattle of Miżrayim: and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Yisra᾽el.

(5) And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, Tomorrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land.

(6) And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Miżrayim died: but of the cattle of the children of Yisra᾽el not one died.

(7) And Par῾o sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of Yisra᾽el dead. And the heart of Par῾o was hard, and he did not let the people go.

(8) And the Lord said to Moshe and to Aharon, Take for yourselves handfuls of soot of the furnace, and let Moshe sprinkle it heaven- wards in the sight of Par῾o.

(9) And it shall become small dust in all the land of Miżrayim, and shall be a pox breaking out in blisters upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Miżrayim.

(10) And they took soot of the furnace, and stood before Par῾o; and Moshe sprinkled it up heavenwards; and it became a pox breaking out in blisters on man and beast.

(11) And the magicians could not stand before Moshe because of the pox; for the pox was on the magicians, and on all Miżrayim.

(12) And the Lord hardened the heart of Par῾o, and he hearkened not to them; as the Lord had spoken to Moshe.

(13) And the Lord said to Moshe, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Par῾o, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

(14) For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and on thy servants, and on thy people; that thou mayst know that there is none like me in all the earth.

(15) For now if I would stretch out my hand, I might smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shouldst be cut off from the earth.

(16) And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, to show in thee my power; and that my name may be proclaimed throughout all the earth.

9 (17) If as yet thou dost exalt thyself against my people, so as not to let them go,

(18) behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Miżrayim since its foundation until now.

(19) Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down, and they shall die.

(20) He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Par῾o made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses:

(21) and he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.

(22) And the Lord said to Moshe, Stretch out thy hand towards heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Miżrayim, on man and beast, and on every plant of the field, throughout the land of Miżrayim.

(23) And Moshe stretched out his rod towards heaven: and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran down upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Miżrayim.

(24) So there was hail, and fire flaring up amidst the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Miżrayim since it became a nation.

(25) And the hail smote throughout all the land of Miżrayim all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every plant of the field, and broke every tree of the field.

(26) Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Yisra᾽el were, was there no hail.

(27) And Par῾o sent, and called for Moshe and Aharon, and said to them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

(28) Entreat the Lord that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.

(29) And Moshe said to him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayst know that the earth is the Lord’s.

(30) But as for thee and thy servants, I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.

(31) And the flax and the barley were struck: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bud.

(32) But the wheat and the spelt were not struck: for they were late ripening.

(33) And Moshe went out of the city from Par῾o, and spread out his hands to the Lord: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was no longer poured upon the earth.

(34) And when Par῾o saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, he sinned yet again, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

(35) And the heart of Par῾o was hard, neither would he let the children of Yisra᾽el go; as the Lord had spoken by Moshe.

1. If a hatat cow was slaughtered not for its own name, or if its blood was received or sprinkled not for its own name, or if this was done for its own name and for some other name, or for some other name and for its name, it is invalid. Rabbi Eliezer rules it valid. If [the service] was performed by one whose hands or feet were unwashed, it is invalid. Rabbi Eliezer rules that it is valid. If it was performed by one who was not the high priest, it is invalid. Rabbi Judah rules that it is valid. If it was performed by one who was not wearing all the prescribed garments, it is invalid. And in white garments it was to be prepared.

2. If it was burnt outside its pit, or in two pits, or if two cows were burnt in the same pit, it is invalid. If [the blood] was sprinkled but not in the direction of the entrance of the Holy of Holies, it is invalid. If he made the seventh sprinkling out of the sixth and then sprinkled again a seventh time, it is invalid. If he sprinkled an eighth time out of the seventh and then sprinkled again an eighth time, it is valid.

3. If he burned it without wood, or with any kind of wood, and even if only with straw or stubble, it is valid. If he flayed it and cut up, it is valid. If he slaughtered it with the intention of eating its flesh or drinking its blood, it is valid. Rabbi Eliezer rules: no intention can invalidate the red cow.

4. All who are occupied with the preparation of the [red] cow from the beginning until the end, defile their clothing, and they also render it invalid by [doing other] work. If some invalidity occurred while it was being slaughtered, it does not defile clothing. If it occurred while the blood was being sprinkled, for all who were occupied with it before the invalidity occurred, it defiles their clothing, but for those who were occupied with it after it had become invalid it does not defile their clothing unclean. Thus it follows that the stringency turns into a leniency. It is always subject to the rules of trespassing. Wood may be added to the fire. The service must be performed by day and by a priest. Work renders it invalid. [All of this is only] until it becomes ashes And work causes the water to be invalid until the ashes are put into it.

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehoshua said: I see as correct the statement of Beit Shammai in this case. His students said to him: Our teacher, how you have weighed [he’erakhta] us down with this stringent ruling. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: It is preferable that I weigh you down in this world, so that you do not sin by engaging in prohibited intercourse, i.e., so that your days in the World-to-Come will be lengthened [sheya’arikhu].

§ Rabbi Zeira says: From the statements of all of them, i.e., both Beit Shammai, who permit engaging in intercourse a second time only after an examination, and Beit Hillel, who rule that the second examination must be performed only after the final act of intercourse of the night, we can learn that their dispute relates only to that which is permitted after the fact. But a pious person [ba’al nefesh] should not engage in intercourse and repeat his act without an examination between each act.

Rava says: Even a pious person may engage in intercourse and repeat the act without an examination in between, as when that baraita is taught, it is referring to a woman who handles pure items. But with regard to intercourse with her husband, there is no cause for concern.

This opinion is also taught in a baraita: In what case is this statement said, i.e., that a woman must examine herself before and after every act of intercourse according to Beit Shammai, or before the first act and after the last act, according to Beit Hillel? It was said with regard to a woman who handles pure items; but a woman is permitted to her husband even without any examination, and he is not required to ask her if she is pure. But in what case is this lenient statement said? When her husband traveled and left her with the presumptive status of ritual purity. But if he left her with the presumptive status of ritual impurity, she remains forever in her presumptive status of impurity until she says to him: I am pure.

We do not put a vessel under a lamp to catch the oil in it on Shabbat – as it surely negates a vessel from its preparedness. But if he had put it [there] while it is still day, it is permissible. And we put a vessel under a lamp on Shabbat to catch the sparks, since there is no substance to them, and he has [thus] not negated it from being carried. But it is forbidden to put water in it – even from the eve of Shabbat – since he quickens the extinguishing of the sparks.

We do not examine [clothing] by the light of the lamp, nor do we read by the light of the lamp, and even if it is two stories high. And if there are ten houses one on top of the other and the lamp is on the top one, he many not read or examine by its light [even] in the lower one, lest he forget and incline [it]. But if there were two [people] reading one topic, they are allowed to read in front of the lamp – since each one will remind his fellow if he forgets. But [this is not the case] with two topics, as each one is preoccupied with his topic.

Infants may read in front of their teacher by the light of the lamp, since the teacher watches them. But he should not read – as he is not afraid of them. However, he should see the book by the light of the lamp until he sees the beginning of the section that he needs to have them read. And afterwards, he gives them the book in their hands and they read in front of him.