You Shall Have No Other Gods:
The Book of Exodus

Lesson 8 Plagues of Frogs, Gnats, Flies & a Plague
upon the Cattle
the book of Exodus 8:1—9:7

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)*
New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)*
Catechism of the Catholic Church
ex libris (in our library)
glossary for the book of Exodus
cross references in the book of Exodus
next lesson: Plagues of Boils, Hail & Locusts

This material coordinates with Lesson 8 on pages 38–42 in the study book You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”—the book of Exodus 20:1–6

welcome to our in-depth study of the book of Exodus
We invite interested groups and individuals to check out the sample first lesson from this 28-lesson Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study. These online study pages link to our free lesson video overviews, as well as to a glossary and cross references in the biblical text. Other study aids include maps, additional commentary, and prayers based on the primary Scripture in each lesson. You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus has been granted an imprimatur and can be purchased from our website shop. If you have a Bible-study question or comment, click on one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons on any online study page.

open with prayer
It’s always wise to begin any Bible study with prayer, whether reading the Scriptures alone or meeting with others in a discussion group. You can pray using your own words or use one of the opening prayers on our website. We especially like the following:

Lord Jesus, you promised to send your Holy Spirit to teach us all things.
As we read and study your word today,
allow it to touch our hearts and change our lives. Amen.

let’s review—the book of Exodus 7:1–25
In Lesson 7 First Plague: The Nile Is Turned to Blood, the LORD spells out the nature of the relationship between Moses and Aaron, as well as the nature of the relationship between Moses and Pharaoh. God also explains to Moses in more specific terms what’s going to happen that will move Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. Moses’ age is given as 80 at the time, and his brother Aaron is 83. The LORD anticipates that Pharaoh will ask Moses and Aaron to prove themselves by working a miracle, and when Moses instructs Aaron to turn his rod into a serpent, Aaron does so. Wise men and magicians in Egypt are able to perform the same sign, and Pharaoh refuses to listen to Moses and Aaron. When this happens, the LORD has Moses order Aaron to stretch out his rod over the Nile River and other fresh water in Egypt, changing it to blood. God allows this plague to persist for seven days.

map notes—the plagues start to target the Egyptians
Although the first four plagues—the Nile River turning to blood and infestations of frogs, gnats, and flies— affect all of the people living in Egypt, the fifth plague strikes only cattle belonging to the Egyptians—not any belonging to the Israelites. With this plague, the LORD begins to discriminate in a way that favors the Israelites, who live in the region of Goshen. Goshen is an area in the eastern part of the Nile River delta. To learn more about Goshen, check out our online glossary that accompanies this Bible study. It provides basic information about all of the proper nouns (persons and places) mentioned in the book of Exodus, and it also includes the meanings of many of these names. Scholars suggest that Goshen, for example, may mean “cultivated,” based on the rich soil in that delta region. Click on the map (right) to enlarge it. The original map is on page 41 in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

evil can’t compel you to commit sin (45:36)
In the overview for this section of You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus, Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps addresses the idea that the magicians have some powers equal to God’s. The magicians’ power is based on illusion, which serves to emphasize that evil has limited power. The idea of the devil being powerful is created by falsehoods and temptation that lead men and women to use their free will to decide to go against what God wills. When the magicians announce that they can create frogs, this clearly does nothing to solve the problem of too many frogs in Egypt. Pharaoh’s request to eliminate frogs is made to Moses and not to the magicians. Faith isn’t belief, it’s relational and involves trusting in God. In this section of the book of Exodus, Pharaoh believes that God has brought the frogs into Egypt. He doesn’t trust God to get rid of the frogs, and he doesn’t think the magicians are able to do this. Instead, he asks Mosesto handle the problem. From here on out, it appears that Pharaoh, Moses, and Aaron all understand that the person with a direct line to the LORD—and real power—is Moses.


The Scripture ranges for the videos that accompany this Catholic Bible study from Turning to God’s Word match the Scripture ranges for the sets of questions in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus. You can follow along as Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps discusses Lesson 8, “Plagues of Frogs, Gnats, Flies & a Plague upon the Cattle,” on pages 38–42 in the study book.

at the heart of the plagues against Egypt
Beginning with the LORD changing the waters of the Nile River into blood and then back again, all of the plagues against Egypt are intimately concerned with life and death. Each plague also targets a different divinity worshiped by the Egyptians. The first plague, described in the seventh chapter in the book of Exodus, was against Hapi (also sometimes called Apis), god of the Nile River. The eighth chapter in the book of Exodus describes the LORD demonstrating his power by executing judgment respectively against Heqet, the frog-headed goddess of birth; Set, the god of the desert; and Uatchit, the fly god. The fifth plague in the ninth chapter in the book of Exodus represents God’s judgment against the Egyptian goddess Hathor and the god Hapi/Apis, both depicted as cattle. The point? The LORD controls all life and death.

what Matthew says—an amusing visual suggested by the biblical text
The book of Exodus 8:7 records: “But the magicians did the same by their secret arts, and brought frogs upon the land of Egypt.” This verse calls to mind an image of magicians in flowing robes and pointed hats emblazoned with astrological signs—and frogs jumping out of their wide sleeves, a sure give-away about the nature of their “secret” arts. As Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps points out in the video for this lesson, Scripture isn’t suggesting that they have any actual power.

what’s going on in the third plague?
When the LORD inflicts Egypt with the third plague, which consists of an infestation of gnats, the book of Exodus 8:18–19 records: “ The magicians tried by their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. And the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.'”

?  Consider why it is that the magicians are able to recognize the work of the LORD when Pharaoh isn’t.
?  What might Pharaoh’s inability to credit God for an obvious miracle indicate ?
?  What other occasions in Scripture are you already familiar with in which the hand or finger of God is mentioned?
?  What might be God’s purpose in “showing his hand” in each of these events?
?  What might be God’s purpose in “showing his hand” in the eighth chapter in the book of Exodus?

Moses starts to find his voice
In the book of Exodus 8:8–11, something interesting occurs. Moses and Pharaoh begin speaking directly to each other. As their negotiations become more serious, they quit using Aaron as a middleman. Moses seems to forget that he doesn’t know how to speak. At the very least this reinforces what the LORD promised Moses in the book of Exodus 4:11–12: “ Then the LORD said to [Moses], ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?  Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

miracles & signs—you could look these up in our archives
In afflicting the Egyptians with the fourth plague in the book of Exodus 8:20–24, the LORD sets the land of Goshen apart. God refers to this division as a “sign” in the book of Exodus 8:23. To learn more about the meaning of “miracles” and “signs” in Scripture, read Lost in Translation, an online column in which Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps helps readers connect with ideas expressed in the original languages of the Scriptures. New Lost in Translation entries are posted on Mondays, and past entries are archived on our website. Contact us if you’d like to receive Lost in Translation by email every week.

the best Catholic commentary about Scripture
To find out more about how Church teaching is supported by Scripture passages in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus, check out the Index of Citations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Links (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE*]) to the primary Scripture passages in the lesson and relevant paragraphs in the Catechism are provided here. Not every passage in the biblical text for this Catholic Bible study is referenced in a Catechism paragraph, however, including the passage in this lesson from the book of Exodus 8:1—9:7.

ways our glossary might prove helpful
In addition to providing extra information about geographical locations, our glossary also points out when a person or place is mentioned in the biblical text under more than one name or more than one spelling. If you can remember a name but aren’t sure in which lesson it shows up, you can find it in the glossary, which lists every proper noun that appears in the biblical text for every lesson in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

to learn more, read more Scripture
If you’re having difficulty with a particular passage of Scripture, it can be helpful to read the relevant cross references—but looking these up can take time. To make that easier, we’ve compiled the cross references from the Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE)—the translation that we reprint in our study books. That list can be found at the top of every online study page accompanying this study, and it includes links to each of the cross references in the primary biblical text for You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

don’t forget about our indexes & extra online material
If you’re trying to locate information about a specific Scripture passage, you can look it up in the index at the back of the study book or sample lesson. If you want to find a particular commentary, you can look up its title in the topics index. To learn more about another book of the Bible for which there’s a Turning to God’s Word study, visit the online study directories to read the commentaries and watch any accompanying videos. Finally, if you have a question or would like to make a comment about any of our studies, you can use one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons to email our authors.

ex libris—Church documents & books about religious topics
Link to magisterial documents referred to in our Bible studies at ex libris—magisterial documents. This listing includes significant recent encyclicals as well as a number of historical Church documents. Recommended books related to Scripture study can be found at ex libris—main bookshelf.

wondering how to pronounce some of these words?
The following link is to a reading from the New International Version (NIV) Bible. To listen, open the link and click on the audio icon above the printed text. Although not taken from the translations used in our study materials, the NIV reading provides an audio guide to pronunciation of words in this lesson’s primary biblical text. A close online version of the translation of the Bible used in Catholic liturgy in the United States as well as an audio guide for daily Mass readings for the current month can be found on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

the book of Exodus 8:1—9:7 (NIV)

round black doveclose with Bible-based prayer related to this lesson
Many of our Catholic study groups like to conclude their discussions with a prayer based on the scriptural focus of their lesson, and some participants include Scripture-specific prayer in their individual study. If you’re uncomfortable composing your own Bible-based prayers, you can follow our four easy steps. If you prefer, you can use the following short prayer based on this lesson’s text from the book of Exodus.

O God, you have ultimate power over all things.
Help us to understand our own limitations, 
and prevent us from becoming hard-hearted.
Grant that we never quit trusting in your merciful love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ,
whose sacred heart allowed him the compassion to die
in order that men and women might live. Amen.

Lesson 9 Plagues of Boils, Hail & Locusts, the book of Exodus 9:8—10:20
Lesson 7 First Plague: The Nile Is Turned to Blood, the book of Exodus 7:1–25

you also may like our study of Saul, David & Solomon
The United Kingdom of Israel: Saul, David & Solomon Foreshadow Christ the King, a 28-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, provides an in-depth look at the First and Second Books of Samuel to learn how the lives of the monarchs Saul, David, and Solomon point ahead to the kingdom of heaven. The unified reign of King David is seen as a foreshadowing or type of the unity that is one of the four marks of the Church—the kingdom of God—established by Jesus Christ. Click on the book’s cover to view a sample lesson.

start a Turning to God’s Word Bible study
Thank you for your interest in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus. Information about beginning a Turning to God’s Word Bible study can be found at start a Bible study. Tami, Matthew, and I are available to answer your questions and to offer support. You may use this email to contact us directly if you’re interested in starting a Turning to God study or in having your study schedule listed with other TtGW study groups on our website. —Jennifer

*There are seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament—the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and First and Second Maccabees, as well as some passages in the Books of Esther and Daniel. Protestants usually refer to these works as “apocryphal,” a word that means “outside the (Protestant) canon” because they’re excluded from most Protestant Bibles. The word “deuterocanonical” means “second canon”; Catholics use that word to refer to any section of the Catholic Old Testament for which there are no extant, or existing, Hebrew manuscripts. All of the deuterocanonical books appear in the Septuagint, the earliest remaining versions of which date to the 1st century B.C. This Greek translation of the Old Testament was in common use by Jews at the time of Jesus—but the same books aren’t found in existing Hebrew manuscripts, which aren’t as old as the oldest version of the Septuagint. Learn more by reading How Do Catholic & Protestant Bibles Differ?

Turning to God’s Word printed Bible studies use the 2006 Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE) translation for all Scripture references except those to the Psalms, which are taken from The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and published in 2020 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). All Scripture links for the online study pages for You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus are to the 1966 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) translation. The New International Version (NIV) audio recordings follow the same chapter and verse numbering as the RSV Catholic translations, but the NIV translation doesn’t include the deuterocanonical books and passages.

The 1966 RSVCE uses archaic pronouns and verb forms such as “thee,” “thou,” “didst” in the Psalms and in direct quotations attributed to God. The 2006 RSV2CE replaces those with more accessible English. The few significant translation changes in the RSV2CE include rendering almah as “virgin” in the Book of Isaiah 7:14 and restoring the term “begotten” in the Gospel According to John 3:16.

Numbering varies for some passages in this Bible study. Turning to God’s Word studies (print and digital) follow the numbering in the Revised Standard Version Catholic translations (RSV2CE and RSVCE). Discrepancies in the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) are noted in the Index of Scripture Citations in the study book and the online sample.

You can learn more about the Psalms by viewing a sample lesson from the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. The second part of that study, Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline, is scheduled for publication in 2025. Some verse numbers may vary in different translations of the Psalms.