The Bible

Exodus Chapter 10

¹Yahweh said to Moses, "Go in to [see] Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs among them; ²and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son's son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh."

³Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to 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, so they can serve me. ⁴Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. ⁵They'll cover the surface of the earth, so that one won't be able to see the earth. They'll eat the rest of what has escaped, which remains to you from the hail. They'll eat every tree that grows for you in the field. ⁶Your houses will be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen, since the day they were on the earth to this day.'" He turned, and left Pharaoh.

⁷Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, so they can serve Yahweh, their God. Don't you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?"

⁸Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go, serve Yahweh your God; but who are those who will go?"

⁹Moses said, "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; for we must hold a feast to Yahweh."

¹⁰He said to them, "Yahweh be with you if I let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces. ¹¹Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire!" Then they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

¹²Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so they will come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every plant of the land, even all that the hail has left." ¹³Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ¹⁴The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very dreadful. There were no such locusts before them nor will there ever be again. ¹⁵For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every plant of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, "I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you. ¹⁷Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, so he would also take away from me this death."

¹⁸He left Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. ¹⁹Yahweh sent an exceedingly strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt. ²⁰But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he didn't let the children of Israel go.

²¹Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt." ²²Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³They didn't see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

²⁴Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, "Go, serve Yahweh. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you."

²⁵Moses said, "You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, so we can sacrifice to Yahweh our God. ²⁶We'll also take our livestock with us. Not [even] a hoof will be left behind, for we must use them to serve Yahweh our God; and we won't know what we must use to serve Yahweh until we get there."

²⁷But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he wouldn't let them go. ²⁸Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me! Be careful not to see my face again; for in the day you see my face you will die!"

²⁹Moses said, "You have spoken well. I will not see your face again."