Exodus 8:27
New International Version
We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, as he commands us.”

New Living Translation
We must take a three-day trip into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, just as he has commanded us.”

English Standard Version
We must go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he tells us.”

Berean Standard Bible
We must make a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He commands us.”

King James Bible
We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.

New King James Version
We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He will command us.”

New American Standard Bible
We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God, just as He commands us.”

NASB 1995
“We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He commands us.”

NASB 1977
“We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He commands us.”

Legacy Standard Bible
We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to Yahweh our God as He says to us.”

Amplified Bible
We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He commands us.”

Christian Standard Bible
We must go a distance of three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he instructs us.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
We must go a distance of three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He instructs us.”

American Standard Version
We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our God, as he shall command us.

Contemporary English Version
No indeed! The LORD has ordered us to walk three days into the desert before offering sacrifices to him, and that's what we have to do."

English Revised Version
We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
We need to travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, as he told us to do."

Good News Translation
We must travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, just as he commanded us."

International Standard Version
We must go a three-day journey into the desert, and we'll offer sacrifices to the LORD our God just as he has told us."

Majority Standard Bible
We must make a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He commands us.”

NET Bible
We must go on a three-day journey into the desert and sacrifice to the LORD our God, just as he is telling us."

New Heart English Bible
We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us."

Webster's Bible Translation
We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he shall command us.

World English Bible
We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he shall command us.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
We go a journey of three days into the wilderness and have sacrificed to our God YHWH as He says to us.”

Young's Literal Translation
A journey of three days we go into the wilderness, and have sacrificed to Jehovah our God, as He saith unto us.'

Smith's Literal Translation
The original Julia E. Smith Bible records the following as a verse reference for Exodus 8:23A way of three days will we go into the desert and sacrifice to Jehovah our God as he shall say to us.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
We will go three days' journey into the wilderness: and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.

Catholic Public Domain Version
We will sojourn three days’ journey into the wilderness. And we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, just as he has instructed us.”

New American Bible
We must go a three days’ journey in the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD, our God, as he commands us.”

New Revised Standard Version
We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he commands us.”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
We will go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Let us go a journey of three days into the wilderness and we will sacrifice to LORD JEHOVAH our God, as he said to us.”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as He shall command us.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
We will go a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as the Lord said to us.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Fourth Plague: Flies
26But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do that, because the sacrifices we offer to the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. If we offer sacrifices that are detestable before the Egyptians, will they not stone us? 27We must make a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He commands us.” 28Pharaoh answered, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”…

Cross References
Exodus 3:18
The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’

Exodus 5:1
After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”

Exodus 7:16
Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.

Exodus 10:9
“We will go with our young and old,” Moses replied. “We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”

Exodus 10:24-26
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the LORD. Even your little ones may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.” / But Moses replied, “You must also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD our God. / Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we will need some of them to worship the LORD our God, and we will not know how we are to worship the LORD until we arrive.”

Exodus 12:31-32
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. / Take your flocks and herds as well, just as you have said, and depart! And bless me also.”

Exodus 19:1-2
In the third month, on the same day of the month that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. / After they had set out from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

Leviticus 23:34-36
“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days. / On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly. You must not do any regular work. / For seven days you are to present a food offering to the LORD. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work.

Numbers 29:12
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work, and you shall observe a feast to the LORD for seven days.

Deuteronomy 16:13-15
You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. / And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you. / For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete.

1 Kings 8:2
And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.

2 Chronicles 8:13
He observed the daily requirement for offerings according to the commandment of Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Psalm 81:1-3
For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. Of Asaph. Sing for joy to God our strength; make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob. / Lift up a song, strike the tambourine, play the sweet-sounding harp and lyre. / Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and at the full moon on the day of our Feast.

Isaiah 66:23
From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.

Jeremiah 7:22-23
For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices, / but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.


Treasury of Scripture

We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.

three days' E

Exodus 3:18
And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.

Exodus 5:1
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

as he shall

Exodus 3:12
And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

Exodus 10:26
Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither.

Exodus 34:11
Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

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Exodus 8
1. Frogs are sent
8. Pharaoh complains to Moses, who by prayer removes them
16. The dust is turned into lice, which the magicians could not do
20. The plague of flies
25. Pharaoh inclines to let the people go, but yet is hardened














We must make
The phrase "We must make" indicates a sense of divine obligation and urgency. The Hebrew root here is "halak," which means to go, walk, or proceed. This conveys not just a physical journey but a spiritual pilgrimage. The Israelites are not merely traveling; they are fulfilling a divine mandate. This reflects the broader biblical theme of obedience to God's commands, emphasizing that the journey is not optional but a necessary act of faith and devotion.

a three-day journey
The "three-day journey" is significant both numerically and symbolically. In Hebrew culture, the number three often represents completeness or divine perfection. This journey is not just a physical distance but a spiritual passage to a place of divine encounter. Historically, this phrase also underscores the separation needed from Egypt, symbolizing a break from bondage and a step towards freedom and worship. The three days can also be seen as a test of faith, trusting in God's provision and protection during the journey.

into the wilderness
The "wilderness" in biblical terms is often a place of testing, transformation, and revelation. The Hebrew word "midbar" can mean desert or uninhabited land, but it is also a place where God speaks to His people. The wilderness is where the Israelites will encounter God more intimately, away from the distractions and influences of Egypt. It is a place of purification and preparation for receiving God's law and promises.

and sacrifice
The act of "sacrifice" is central to the Israelites' worship and relationship with God. The Hebrew word "zabach" refers to the act of offering something valuable to God, symbolizing atonement, thanksgiving, and dedication. Sacrifice is a tangible expression of faith and obedience, acknowledging God's sovereignty and holiness. It is through sacrifice that the Israelites demonstrate their commitment to God and His covenant.

to the LORD our God
The phrase "to the LORD our God" emphasizes the personal and covenantal relationship between the Israelites and Yahweh. The use of "LORD" (YHWH) signifies the specific, revealed name of God, highlighting His eternal, self-existent nature. "Our God" denotes a collective identity and belonging, affirming that the Israelites are His chosen people. This relationship is foundational to their identity and mission as a nation set apart for God's purposes.

as He commands us
The phrase "as He commands us" underscores the importance of divine instruction and obedience. The Hebrew root "tsavah" means to command or charge, indicating that the Israelites' actions are not based on personal preference but on God's authoritative directive. This reflects a broader biblical principle that true worship and service to God must align with His revealed will. It is a reminder that God's commands are not burdensome but are given for the good and flourishing of His people.

(27) As he shall command us.--Comp. Exodus 10:26--"We know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come thither."

Verse 27. - Three days' journey into the wilderness. This was the demand made from the first (Exodus 5:3) by Divine direction (Exodus 3:18). Its object was to secure the absence of Egyptians as witnesses. As he shall command us. Compare Exodus 10:26, where Moses observes - "We know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither." Divine directions were expected as to the number and the selection of the victims.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
We must make
נֵלֵ֖ךְ (nê·lêḵ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common plural
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

a three-day
שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת (šə·lō·šeṯ)
Number - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

journey
דֶּ֚רֶךְ (de·reḵ)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 1870: A road, a course of life, mode of action

into the wilderness
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר (bam·miḏ·bār)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4057: A pasture, a desert, speech

and sacrifice
וְזָבַ֙חְנוּ֙ (wə·zā·ḇaḥ·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common plural
Strong's 2076: To slaughter for sacrifice

to the LORD
לַֽיהוָ֣ה (Yah·weh)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

our God
אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ (’ĕ·lō·hê·nū)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

as
כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר (ka·’ă·šer)
Preposition-k | Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

He commands us.”
יֹאמַ֥ר (yō·mar)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say


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OT Law: Exodus 8:27 We will go three days' journey into (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 8:26
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