16 The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, ‘Pick up your walking stick and hit the dust of the ground. The dust will become gnats8:16. The exact insect mentioned here is not known with certainty. The Hebrew suggests "annoying insect," and has been variously translated as lice, mosquitoes, or fleas in addition to gnats. However, some form of small biting flying insect like a gnat would best fit the context of "dust." swarming all over Egypt.’"
17 They did what the Lord said. When Aaron lifted up his walking stick and hit the dust of the earth, gnats swarmed over both people and animals. The dust in the whole of Egypt turned into gnats. 18 The magicians also tried to make gnats using their magic arts, but they couldn’t. The gnats stayed on both people and animals.
19 "This is an act of God,"8:19. "This is an act of God": literally, "It is the finger of God." the magicians told Pharaoh. But Pharaoh chose to be stubbornly hard-hearted, and he wouldn’t listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.