And (the conjunction waw) is often omitted in translation, but in this context it may also be understood as “And sure enough” (Durham). On the morrow simply means “the next day” (Good News Translation). Literally the word means “from tomorrow,” which can imply that the animal disease only began the following day as an epidemic and continued for some time. But it is more likely that this thing that the LORD did was understood to be a supernatural act rather than a natural disease, causing all the animals to die immediately.

This thing may refer either to the “very severe plague” mentioned in verse 3 or to “the hand of the LORD will fall” in the same verse. New English Bible has “The next day the LORD struck,” but Good News Translation simply has “the LORD did as he had said.” (Jerusalem Bible has “Yahweh kept his word.”) It is possible to express the first sentence as “The next day the LORD brought a terrible disease on the animals of the Egyptians, and all….” The cattle of the Egyptians includes “all the animals” (Good News Translation), or livestock, owned by the Egyptian people. The word all is probably an intentional exaggeration, for there were still some Egyptian animals that were afflicted by the following two plagues. (See 9.10 and 9.19, 25.) Even so, all should not be omitted in translation.

Of the cattle of the people of Israel shows the contrast, or “distinction” (verse 4), with the Egyptian livestock. The preposition of goes with not one died at the end of the clause, meaning “not one of the animals of the Israelites died” (Good News Translation).

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .