The Wheat Spared by Wonder and Pharaoh's Confession

"And the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are afilot" (Exodus 9:32). What is "afilot"? The Holy One, blessed be He, worked wonders [pela'im] with them. Rabbi Judah says: they were late-ripening. Rabbi Pinchas said to him: is it not written, "and every herb of the field" [was struck]? And you say it was because they were small that they were not struck? Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, worked wonders with them. "The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are the wicked ones" (Exodus 9:27). He justified the judgment against himself. And what reward did he take for this? That they were given a place of burial, as it is said, "You stretched out Your right hand, the earth swallowed them" (Exodus 15:12). The wicked do not give thanks until He brings plagues upon them, but the righteous are not so; therefore it is said, "Sing for joy, O righteous ones, in the LORD" (Psalms 33:1), as it is said, "And all the people saw and sang." It is not written here, "Sing for joy, O righteous ones, the LORD," but rather "in the LORD" - at the time when they see Him. So it says, "And Israel saw the great hand" (Exodus 14:31), and they began to sing, "Then Moses sang" (Exodus 15:1). "When I go out of the city" (Exodus 9:29). Here is an argument from the lighter to the weightier: if prayer, which is the lighter, was not possible in Egypt [proper], how much more so speech [of prophecy], which is the weightier. And what is written, "the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 12:1) - that was outside the metropolis.