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, # Lit Mine in his midst # Ex 4:21; 7:4,13 2and so that you may tell # Lit tell in the ears of your son and grandson # 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 Yahweh.”
3So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what Yahweh, 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. # 1Kg 21:29; Jms 4:10; 1Pt 5:6 4But if you refuse to let My people go, then tomorrow I will bring locusts # 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 # 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 ancestors 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 # Ex 23:33; Jos 23:13; 1Sm 18:21; Ec 7:26 to us? Let the men go, so that they may worship Yahweh their God. Don’t you realize yet that Egypt is devastated? ”
8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship Yahweh your God,” Pharaoh said. “But exactly who will be going? ”
9Moses replied, “We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds because we must hold Yahweh’s festival.” # Ex 5:1; 8:8
10He said to them, “May Yahweh be with you if I ever let you and your families go! # Pharaoh’s reply is sarcastic. Look out — you are planning evil. 11No, only the men may go and worship Yahweh, for that is what you have been asking for.” 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. # 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. # Ex 10:5; Ps 105:35
16Pharaoh urgently sent for Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you. 17Please forgive my sin once more and make an appeal to Yahweh your God, so that He will take this death away from me.” 18Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the Lord. # Ex 8:8,30; 9:27 19Then the Lord changed the wind to a strong west # Lit sea wind, and it carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. # 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, # 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. # Ex 8:22; Ps 105:28
24Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship Yahweh. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”
25Moses responded, “You must also let us have # Lit also give in our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings to prepare for Yahweh 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 Yahweh our God. We will not know what we will use to worship Yahweh until we get there.”
27But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, # 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.” # Heb 11:27
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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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