23. I will treat my people differently from your people. This miracle will happen tomorrow.’”
24. So the Lord did as he had said. Great swarms of flies came into the king’s palace and his officers’ houses. All over Egypt flies were ruining the land.
25. The king called for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “Offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”
26. But Moses said, “It wouldn’t be right to do that. The Egyptians hate the sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God. They will see us offer sacrifices they hate. Then they will throw stones at us and kill us.
27. Let us make a three-day journey into the desert. We must offer sacrifices to the Lord our God there. This is what the Lord told us to do.”