Exodus 9 presents the fifth, sixth, and seventh plagues. The livestock pestilence (fifth) and the plague of boils (sixth) conclude the second cycle of three (flies-livestock-boils) and the text presents them in abbreviated form. Pharaoh responds very briefly to the fifth plague and not at all to the sixth. The Lord simply informs Moses of the pestilence on the livestock (vv. 1–5) and the pestilence of boils (vv. 8–9); they broke out (vv. 6, 10–11); and the text reports Pharaoh’s hard heart (vv. 7, 12). The chapter describes the storm of thunder, hail, and lightning, the seventh plague, in fuller form because it begins the third and final cycle (hail-locusts-darkness). This last cycle intensifies the struggle for control between Yahweh and Pharaoh for the service (worship) of the children o…