God's holy war against the false gods of the Egyptians and hard-hearted Pharaoh continues, with God now afflicting the land of the Egyptians, but not the land of Goshen, where Israel dwelt. Every step of the way God has demonstrated his power over everything Egypt has to counter with. Pharaoh feigns repentance, offering to let Israel sacrifice in Egypt, but that is not what God had asked for, so the plagues continued and the suffering of Pharaoh's people grew.