Now the famine was severe in the land. ¹ 

A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but vexation ¹  by a fool is more burdensome ²  than the two of them.

There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt ¹  to stay for a while ²  because the famine was severe. ³ 

Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage. ¹ 

¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; ²  he refuses to release ³  the people.

A mixed multitude ¹  also went up with them, and flocks and herds – a very large number of cattle. ² 

I am not able to bear this entire people alone, ¹  because it ²  is too heavy for me!

But he said, “You may not pass through.” Then Edom came out against them ¹  with a large and powerful force. ² 

So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized army. ¹  They arrived during the night and surrounded the city.

For my sins overwhelm me; ¹  like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.

Then Moses said to the Lord, ¹  “O ²  my Lord, ³  I am not an eloquent man, ⁴  neither in the past ⁵  nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” ⁶ 

The previous abundance of the land will not be remembered ¹  because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very severe. ² 

But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away ¹  because of the famine.

When they came to the threshing floor of Atad ¹  on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. ²  There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father.

The Lord did so; a ¹  thick ²  swarm of flies came into ³  Pharaoh’s house and into the houses ⁴  of his servants, and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined ⁵  because of the swarms of flies.

then the hand of the Lord will surely bring ¹  a very terrible plague ²  on your livestock in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, ³  the herds, and the flocks.

I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down ¹  about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred ²  in Egypt from the day it was founded ³  until now.

Hail fell ¹  and fire mingled ²  with the hail; the hail was so severe ³  that there had not been any like it ⁴  in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.

You will surely wear out, ¹  both you and these people who are with you, for this is too ²  heavy a burden ³  for you; you are not able to do it by yourself.

“Your father made us work too hard. ¹  Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” ²