. And they gathered them together into immense heaps, and the land
was corrupted.

8:15. And Pharao seeing that rest was given, hardened his own heart, and
did not hear them, as the Lord had commanded.

Pharao hardened his own heart... By this we see that Pharao was himself
the efficient cause of his heart being hardened, and not God.-See the
same repeated in ver. 32. Pharao hardened his heart at this time also:
likewise chap. 9.7, 35, and chap. 13.15.

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 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 th