Exodus 10
10
The Plague of Locusts
1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh. I have made him stubborn. I have also made his officials stubborn so I can perform my signs among them. 2Then you will be able to tell your children and grandchildren how hard I was on the Egyptians. You can tell them I performed my signs among the people of Egypt. And all of you will know that I am the Lord.”
3So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They said to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘How long will you refuse to obey me? Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 4If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. 5They will cover the ground so that it can’t be seen. They will eat what little you have left after the hail. That includes every tree growing in your fields. 6They will fill your houses. They will be in the homes of all your officials and your people. Your parents and your people before them have never seen anything like it as long as they have lived here.’ ” Then Moses turned around and left Pharaoh.
7Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a trap for us? Let the people go. Then they’ll be able to worship the Lord their God. After everything that’s happened, don’t you realize that Egypt is destroyed?”
8Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go. Worship the Lord your God,” he said. “But tell me who will be going.”
9Moses answered, “We’ll go with our young people and old people. We’ll go with our sons and daughters. We’ll take our flocks and herds. We are supposed to hold a feast to honor the Lord.”
10Pharaoh said, “Suppose I ever let you go, along with your women and children. Then the Lord really will be with all of you! Clearly you are planning to do something bad. 11No! I’ll only allow the men to go and worship the Lord. After all, that’s what you have been asking for.” Then Pharaoh drove Moses and Aaron out of his sight.
12The Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand over Egypt so that locusts cover the land. They will eat up everything growing in the fields. They will eat up everything left by the hail.”
13So Moses reached out his walking stick over Egypt. Then the Lord made an east wind blow across the land. It blew all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts. 14Large numbers of them came down in every part of Egypt. There had never been a plague of locusts like it before. And there will never be one like it again. 15The locusts covered the ground until it was black. They ate up everything left after the hail. They ate up everything growing in the fields. They ate up the fruit on the trees. There was nothing green left on any tree or plant in the whole land of Egypt.
16Pharaoh quickly sent for Moses and Aaron. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God. I’ve also sinned against you. 17Now forgive my sin one more time. Pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”
18After Moses left Pharaoh, he prayed to the Lord. 19The Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind. It picked up the locusts. It blew them into the Red Sea. Not even one locust was left anywhere in Egypt. 20But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn. So Pharaoh wouldn’t let the people of Israel go.
The Plague of Darkness
21The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Reach out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt. It will be so dark that people can feel it.” 22So Moses reached out his hand toward the sky. Then complete darkness covered Egypt for three days. 23No one could see anyone else or go anywhere for three days. But all the people of Israel had light where they lived.
24Then Pharaoh sent for Moses. He said to him, “Go. Worship the Lord. Even your women and children can go with you. Just leave your flocks and herds behind.”
25But Moses said, “You must allow us to take our animals. We need to offer them as sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord our God. 26Our livestock must also go with us. We have to use some of them to worship the Lord our God. We can’t leave even one animal behind. Until we get there, we won’t know what we are supposed to use to worship the Lord.”
27But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn. So he wouldn’t let the people go. 28Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you don’t come to see me again! If you do, you will die.”
29“I’ll do just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never come to see you again.”
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Exodus 10
10
Eighth Plague: The Locusts. 1Then the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh, for I have made him and his servants obstinate in order that I may perform these signs of mine among them 2and that you may recount to your son and grandson how I made a fool of the Egyptians and what signs I did among them, so that you may know that I am the Lord.#Dt 6:20–25.
3So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go to serve me. 4For if you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. 5They will cover the surface of the earth, so that the earth itself will not be visible. They will eat up the remnant you saved undamaged from the hail, as well as all the trees that are growing in your fields. 6They will fill your houses and the houses of your servants and of all the Egyptians—something your parents and your grandparents have not seen from the day they appeared on this soil until today.” With that he turned and left Pharaoh.
7But Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will he be a snare for us? Let the people go to serve the Lord, their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is being destroyed?” 8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, who said to them, “Go, serve the Lord, your God. But who exactly will go?” 9Moses answered, “With our young and old we must go; with our sons and daughters, with our flocks and herds we must go. It is a pilgrimage feast of the Lord for us.” 10“The Lord help you,”#The Lord help you… : lit., “May the Lord be with you in the same way as I let you…”; a sarcastic blessing intended as a curse. Pharaoh replied, “if I let your little ones go with you! Clearly, you have some evil in mind. 11By no means! Just you men go and serve the Lord.#Pharaoh realized that if the men alone went they would have to return to their families. He suspected that the Hebrews had no intention of returning. After all, that is what you have been asking for.” With that they were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
12#Ps 78:46; 105:34–35. The Lord then said to Moses: Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon it and eat up all the land’s vegetation, whatever the hail has left. 13So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord drove an east wind#East wind: coming across the desert from Arabia, the strong east wind brings Egypt the burning sirocco and, at times, locusts. Cf. 14:21. over the land all that day and all night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14The locusts came up over the whole land of Egypt and settled down over all its territory. Never before had there been such a fierce swarm of locusts, nor will there ever be again. 15They covered the surface of the whole land, so that it became black. They ate up all the vegetation in the land and all the fruit of the trees the hail had spared. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in the fields throughout the land of Egypt.
16Pharaoh hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord, your God, and against you. 17But now, do forgive me my sin only this once, and pray to the Lord, your God, only to take this death from me.” 18When Moses left Pharaoh, he prayed to the Lord, 19and the Lord caused the wind to shift to a very strong west wind, which took up the locusts and hurled them into the Red Sea.#The Red Sea: the traditional translation, cf. Septuagint and other Versions; but the Hebrew literally means “sea of reeds” or “reedy sea,” which could probably be applied to a number of bodies of shallow water, most likely somewhat to the north of the present deep Red Sea. Not a single locust remained within the whole territory of Egypt. 20Yet the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
Ninth Plague: The Darkness. 21#Ps 105:28. Then the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that over the land of Egypt there may be such darkness#Darkness: commentators note that at times a storm from the south, called the khamsin, blackens the sky of Egypt with sand from the Sahara; the dust in the air is then so thick that the darkness can, in a sense, “be felt.” But such observations should not obscure the fact that for the biblical author what transpires in each of the plagues is clearly something extraordinary, an event which witnesses to the unrivaled power of Israel’s God. that one can feel it. 22So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was dense darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. 23People could not see one another, nor could they get up from where they were, for three days. But all the Israelites had light where they lived.
24Pharaoh then summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, serve the Lord. Only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your little ones may go with you.” 25But Moses replied, “You also must give us sacrifices and burnt offerings to make to the Lord, our God. 26Our livestock also must go with us. Not an animal must be left behind, for some of them we will select for service#Service: as is obvious from v. 25, the service in question here is the offering of sacrifice. The continued use of the verb ‘bd “to serve” and related nouns for both the people’s bondage in Egypt and their subsequent service to the Lord dramatizes the point of the conflict between Pharaoh and the God of Israel, who demands from the Israelites an attachment which is exclusive. See Lv 25:55. to the Lord, our God; but we will not know with which ones we are to serve the Lord until we arrive there.” 27But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go. 28Pharaoh said to Moses, “Leave me, and see to it that you do not see my face again! For the day you do see my face you will die!” 29Moses replied, “You are right! I will never see your face again.”
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