Exodus 10
10
The Eighth Plague: Locusts
1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may do these miraculous signs of mine among them, # 10:1 Lit mine in his midst,# 10:1 Ex 4:21; 7:4,13 2and so that you may tell # 10:2 Lit tell in the ears of your son and grandson # 10:2 Ex 13:8,14; Dt 4:9; 6:20–22; Ps 44:1; 78:5–7; Jl 1:3 how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am the Lord.”
3So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may worship me. # 10:3 1Kg 21:29; Jms 4:10; 1Pt 5:6 4But if you refuse to let my people go, then tomorrow I will bring locusts # 10:4 Pr 30:27; Rv 9:3 into your territory. 5They will cover the surface of the land so that no one will be able to see the land. They will eat the remainder left # 10:5 Ex 9:32; Jl 1:4 to you that escaped the hail; they will eat every tree you have growing in the fields. 6They will fill your houses, all your officials’ houses, and the houses of all the Egyptians — something your fathers and grandfathers never saw since the time they occupied the land until today.” Then he turned and left Pharaoh’s presence.
7Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long must this man be a snare # 10:7 Ex 23:33; Jos 23:13; 1Sm 18:21; Ec 7:26 to us? Let the men go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Don’t you realize yet that Egypt is devastated? ”
8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the Lord your God,” Pharaoh said. “But exactly who will be going? ”
9Moses replied, “We will go with our young and with our old; we will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds because we must hold the Lord’s festival.” # 10:8–9 Ex 5:1; 8:8
10He said to them, “The Lord would have to be with you if I would ever let you and your families go! Look out — you’re heading for trouble. 11No, go — just able-bodied men — worship the Lord, since that’s what you want.” And they were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
12The Lord then said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, and the locusts will come up over it and eat every plant in the land, everything that the hail left.” 13So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord sent an east wind over the land all that day and through the night. By morning the east wind had brought in the locusts. 14The locusts went up over the entire land of Egypt and settled on the whole territory of Egypt. Never before had there been such a large number of locusts, and there never will be again. # 10:14 Ps 78:46; 105:34; Jl 2:2 15They covered the surface of the whole land so that the land was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on the trees or the plants in the field throughout the land of Egypt. # 10:15 Ex 10:5; Ps 105:35
16Pharaoh urgently sent for Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17Please forgive my sin once more and make an appeal to the Lord your God, so that he will just take this death away from me.” 18Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the Lord. # 10:16–18 Ex 8:8,30; 9:27 19Then the Lord changed the wind to a strong west # 10:19 Lit sea wind, and it carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. # 10:19 Ex 13:18; 15:4,22; 23:31; Nm 14:25; 21:4; 33:10–11 Not a single locust was left in all the territory of Egypt. 20But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, # 10:20 Ex 4:21; 11:10 and he did not let the Israelites go.
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.” 22So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. 23One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived. # 10:22–23 Ex 8:22; Ps 105:28
24Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the Lord. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”
25Moses responded, “You must also let us have # 10:25 Lit also give in our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings to prepare for the Lord our God. 26Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind because we will take some of them to worship the Lord our God. We will not know what we will use to worship the Lord until we get there.”
27But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, # 10:27 Ex 4:21; 10:20 and he was unwilling to let them go. 28Pharaoh said to him, “Leave me! Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”
29“As you have said,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.” # 10:29 Heb 11:27
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Exodus 10
10
Locusts
1The LORD said to Moses:
Go back to the king.#10.1 the king: See the note at 1.11. I have made him and his officials stubborn, so that I could work these miracles. 2I did this because I want you to tell your children and your grandchildren about my miracles and about my harsh treatment of the Egyptians. Then all of you will know that I am the LORD.
3Moses and Aaron went to the king and told him that the LORD God of the Hebrews had said:
How long will you stubbornly refuse to obey? Release my people so they can worship me. 4Do this by tomorrow, or I will cover your country with so many locusts#10.4 locusts: A type of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to crops. 5that you won't be able to see the ground. Most of your crops were ruined by the hailstones, but these locusts will destroy what little is left, including the trees. 6Your palace, the homes of your officials, and all other houses in Egypt will overflow with more locusts than have ever been seen in this country.
After Moses left the palace, 7the king's officials asked, “Your Majesty, how much longer is this man going to be a troublemaker? Why don't you let the people leave, so they can worship the LORD their God? Don't you know that Egypt is a disaster?”
8The king had Moses and Aaron brought back, and he said, “All right, you may go and worship the LORD your God. But first tell me who will be going.”
9“Everyone, young and old,” Moses answered. “We will even take our sheep, goats, and cattle, because we want to hold a celebration in honour of the LORD.”
10The king replied, “The LORD had better watch over you on the day I let you leave with your families! You're up to no good. 11Do you want to worship the LORD? All right, take only the men and go.” Then Moses and Aaron were chased out of the palace.
12The LORD told Moses, “Stretch your arm towards Egypt. Swarms of locusts will come and eat everything left by the hail.”
13Moses held out his walking stick, and the LORD sent an east wind that blew across Egypt the rest of the day and all that night. By morning, locusts 14were swarming everywhere. Never before had there been so many locusts in Egypt, and never again will there be so many.#Rev 9.2,3. 15The ground was black with locusts, and they ate everything left on the trees and in the fields. Nothing green remained in Egypt—not a tree or a plant.
16At once the king sent for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. 17Forgive me one more time and ask the LORD to stop these insects from killing every living plant.”
18Moses left the palace and prayed. 19Then the LORD sent a strong west wind#10.19 west wind: The Hebrew text has “wind from the sea”, referring to the Mediterranean Sea (see verse 13). that swept the locusts into the Red Sea.#10.19 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Suez, since the term is extended to include the north-western arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at 13.18). Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt, 20but the LORD made the king so stubborn that he still refused to let the Israelites go.
Darkness
21The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch your arm towards the sky, and everything will be covered with darkness thick enough to touch.” 22Moses stretched his arm towards the sky, and Egypt was covered with darkness for three days.#Ps 105.28; Rev 16.10. 23During that time, the Egyptians could not see each other or leave their homes, but there was light where the Israelites lived.
24The king#10.24 The king: See the note at 1.11. sent for Moses and told him, “Go and worship the LORD! And take your families with you. Just leave your sheep, goats, and cattle.”
25“No!” Moses replied. “You must let us offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, 26and we won't know which animals we will need until we get there. That's why we can't leave even one of them here.”
27This time the LORD made the king so stubborn 28that he said to Moses, “Get out and stay out! If you ever come back, you're dead!”
29“Have it your way,” Moses answered. “You won't see me again.”
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012