10 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to see Pharaoh. I have caused his mind to become hard. I have also caused his officers' minds to become hard. I have done this so that I can do miracles to show him my power. 2 In the future, you can tell your children and your children's children how I punished the Egyptians. You can tell them about the miracles that I did among the Egyptians. In this way, you will know that I am the Lord .’
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They said to him, ‘The Lord , the God of the Israelites says this: “You are still too proud to obey me. Let my people go so that they may worship me. 4 If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. 5 They will cover the whole country. Nobody will be able to see the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not destroy. They will eat any crops that you still have. That will include every tree that is growing in your fields. 6 They will fill your houses, and your officers' houses. They will fill all the houses in Egypt! It will be worse than anything that your fathers or your grandfathers have ever seen. Nothing like this has ever happened in Egypt before now.” ’ Then Moses turned away and left Pharaoh.
7 Pharaoh's officers said to him, ‘Will you let this man bring trouble to us for ever? Allow the people to go. Then they can worship the Lord their God. Surely you understand by now that this man has destroyed Egypt!’
8 So Pharaoh's officers took Moses and Aaron back to him. Pharaoh said to them, ‘Go and worship the Lord your God. But tell me, who will go?’
9 Moses said, ‘We will all go, both young people and old people. We will take our sons and daughters. We will also take our animals, because we must have a feast to worship the Lord .’
10 Pharaoh said to them, ‘No! If I let you go with your families like that, you will need the Lord to take care of you! I can see that you want to make trouble. 11 No! If you really want to go and worship the Lord , only the men can go.’ Pharaoh was angry and he told Moses and Aaron to go away. [ a ]
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand over the country of Egypt. Then locusts will fly all over the land. They will eat every plant that grows in the ground. They will eat everything that the hail has not destroyed.’
13 So Moses lifted up his stick over the country of Egypt. Then the Lord caused an east wind to blow across the land, for the whole day and the whole night. In the morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts flew into every part of the country of Egypt. Thousands of locusts sat on everything. There had never been so many locusts in Egypt before. And it will never happen again. 15 The locusts covered all the ground, until the ground became black with locusts. They ate all the plants that grew in the ground, and all the fruit of the trees. They ate everything that the hail had not destroyed. Not one green thing remained on any tree or plant, in all the country of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said, ‘I have done bad things against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Please forgive my sins just one more time. Ask the Lord your God to remove this punishment of death from me.’
18 Moses left Pharaoh and he prayed to the Lord . 19 Then the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind. This wind lifted the locusts up and it blew them away into the Red Sea. [ b ] Not one locust remained in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to become hard again. Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go.
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand towards the sky. Then it will become dark over the whole country of Egypt. It will be so dark that people will be able to feel it.’ 22 So Moses lifted up his hand towards the sky and it became completely dark. It was dark through the whole country of Egypt for three days. 23 People could not see each other. Nobody could move anywhere for three days. But the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.
24 Then Pharaoh called Moses to come to him. He said, ‘Go and worship the Lord . Even your families may go with you. Only your animals must remain in Egypt.’
25 But Moses said, ‘Then you will have to give us animals for our sacrifices and burnt offerings. We need our animals to offer to the Lord our God. [ c ] 26 So we must take our animals with us. Not one animal can remain behind. We must take them to worship the Lord our God. Until we arrive in the desert, we will not know which animals to use as sacrifices.’
27 But the Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to be hard. Pharaoh would not agree to let the Israelites go. 28 Pharaoh said to Moses, ‘Go away from me! Be careful not to come back! I never want to see you again! On the day that you see my face, you will die!’
29 Moses replied, ‘You are right! You will never see me again.’
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh. I have made him and his officials stubborn. I did this so that I could show them my powerful miracles. 2 I also did this so that you could tell your children and your grandchildren about the miracles and other wonderful things that I have done in Egypt. Then all of you will know that I am the Lord .”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They told him, “The Lord , the God of the Hebrews, [ a ] says, ‘How long will you refuse to obey me? Let my people go to worship me! 4 If you refuse to let my people go, then tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. 5 The locusts will cover the land. There will be so many locusts that you will not be able to see the ground. Anything that was left from the hailstorm will be eaten by the locusts. The locusts will eat all the leaves from every tree in the field. 6 They will fill all your houses, and all your officials’ houses, and all the houses in Egypt. There will be more locusts than your fathers or your grandfathers have ever seen. There will be more locusts than there have ever been since people began living in Egypt.’” Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
7 Then the officials asked Pharaoh, “How long will we be trapped by these people? Let the men go to worship the Lord their God. If you don’t let them go, before you know it, Egypt will be destroyed!”
8 So Pharaoh told his officials to bring Moses and Aaron back to him. Pharaoh said to them, “Go and worship the Lord your God. But tell me, just who is going?”
9 Moses answered, “All of our people, young and old, will go. And we will take our sons and daughters, and our sheep and cattle with us. We will all go because the Lord ’s festival is for all of us.”
10 Pharaoh said to them, “The Lord really will have to be with you before I let you and all of your children leave Egypt. Look, you are planning something evil. 11 The men can go worship the Lord . That is what you asked for in the beginning. But all of your people cannot go.” Then Pharaoh sent Moses and Aaron away.
12 The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt and the locusts will come! They will spread all over the land of Egypt and will eat all the plants that the hail did not destroy.”
13 So Moses raised his walking stick over the land of Egypt, and the Lord caused a strong wind to blow from the east. The wind blew all that day and night. When morning came, the wind had brought the locusts to the land of Egypt. 14 The locusts flew into the country of Egypt and landed on the ground. There were more locusts than there had ever been in Egypt. And there will never again be that many locusts there. 15 They covered the ground, and the whole country became dark. The locusts ate every plant on the ground and all the fruit in the trees that the hail had not destroyed. There were no leaves left on any of the trees or plants anywhere in Egypt.
16 Pharaoh quickly called for Moses and Aaron. Pharaoh said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now, forgive me for my sins this time. Ask the Lord to remove this ‘death’ from me.”
18 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord . 19 So the Lord changed the wind. He made a very strong wind blow from the west, and it blew the locusts out of Egypt and into the Red Sea. [ b ] Not one locust was left in Egypt! 20 But the Lord caused Pharaoh to be stubborn again, and Pharaoh did not let the Israelites go.
21 Then the Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand into the air and darkness will cover Egypt. It will be so dark you can feel it!”
22 So Moses raised his hand into the air and a cloud of darkness covered Egypt. The darkness stayed in Egypt for three days. 23 None of the people could see each other, and no one got up to go any place for three days. But there was light in all the places where the Israelites lived.
24 Again Pharaoh called for Moses. He said, “Go and worship the Lord ! You can take your children with you. But you must leave your sheep and cattle here.”
25 Moses said, “No, we will take them all. In fact, you will give us offerings and sacrifices for us to use in worshiping the Lord our God. 26 Yes, we will take our animals with us to worship the Lord our God. Not one hoof will be left behind. We don’t know yet exactly what we will need to worship the Lord . We will learn that only when we get there.”
27 The Lord made Pharaoh stubborn again, so he refused to let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh told Moses, “Get out of here. I don’t want you to come here again. The next time you come to see me, you will die!”
29 Then Moses told Pharaoh, “You are right about one thing. I will not come to see you again.”
10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:
2 And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the Lord .
3 And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.
4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.
7 And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go?
9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord .
10 And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.
11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord ; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
12 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
14 And the locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.
17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only.
18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord .
19 And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.
20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.
21 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord ; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.
25 And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God.
26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord , until we come thither.
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.
28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.
29 And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for ( A ) I have [ a ] hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, so that I may [ b ] perform these signs of Mine [ c ] among them, 2 and ( B ) that you may tell in the [ d ] presence of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I [ e ] performed My signs among them, ( C ) so that you may know that I am the Lord .”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord , the God of the Hebrews says: ‘How long will you refuse to ( D ) humble yourself before Me? ( E ) Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. 4 For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. 5 And they will cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. ( F ) They will also eat the rest of what has survived—what is left to you from the hail—and they will eat every tree of yours which grows [ f ] in the field. 6 Then ( G ) your houses will be filled with them , [ g ] together with the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they [ h ] came upon the earth until this day.’” And he turned and left Pharaoh. 7 Then ( H ) Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be ( I ) a snare to us? Let the [ i ] people go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet [ j ] realize that Egypt is destroyed?” 8 So Moses and Aaron ( J ) were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “ ( K ) Go, serve the Lord your God! [ k ] Who specifically are the ones who are going?” 9 Moses said, “ ( L ) We shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, ( M ) with our flocks and our herds we shall go, for we [ l ] must hold a feast to the Lord .” 10 Then he said to them, “So may the Lord be with you, when I let you and your little ones go! Watch out, for evil is [ m ] on your mind! 11 Not so! Go now, but only the men among you , and serve the Lord , since [ n ] that is what you desire.” So ( N ) they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “ ( O ) Reach out with your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up on the land of Egypt and ( P ) eat every plant of the land, everything that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses reached out with his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind [ o ] brought the ( Q ) locusts. 14 ( R ) The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled in all the territory of Egypt; they were very [ p ] numerous. There had never been so many [ q ] locusts, nor would there be so many [ r ] again. 15 For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened; and they ( S ) ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Therefore nothing green was left on tree or plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh hurriedly ( T ) called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “ ( U ) I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 So now, please forgive my sin only this once, and ( V ) plead with the Lord your God, that He would only remove this death from me.” 18 Then ( W ) he left Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord . 19 So the Lord shifted the wind to a very strong west wind, which picked up the locusts and drove them into the [ s ] Red Sea; not one locust was left in all the territory of Egypt. 20 But ( X ) the Lord [ t ] hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go.
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “ ( Y ) Reach out with your hand toward the sky, so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness ( Z ) which may be felt.” 22 So Moses reached out with his hand toward the sky, and there was ( AA ) thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, ( AB ) but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. 24 Then Pharaoh ( AC ) called for Moses, and said, “Go, serve the Lord ; only let your flocks and your herds be left behind. Even ( AD ) your little ones may go with you.” 25 But Moses said, “You must also [ u ] let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may [ v ] sacrifice them to the Lord our God. 26 ( AE ) Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the Lord our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the Lord .” 27 But ( AF ) the Lord [ w ] hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “ ( AG ) Get away from me! [ x ] Be careful, do not see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you shall die!” 29 Moses said, “You have spoken correctly; ( AH ) I shall never see your face again!”
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart ( A ) and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs ( B ) of mine among them 2 that you may tell your children ( C ) and grandchildren how I dealt harshly ( D ) with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord .” ( E )
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord , the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble ( F ) yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 4 If you refuse ( G ) to let them go, I will bring locusts ( H ) into your country tomorrow. 5 They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left ( I ) after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. ( J ) 6 They will fill your houses ( K ) and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your parents nor your ancestors have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.’” ( L ) Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
7 Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a snare ( M ) to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?” ( N )
8 Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship ( O ) the Lord your God,” he said. “But tell me who will be going.”
9 Moses answered, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival ( P ) to the Lord .”
10 Pharaoh said, “The Lord be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil. [ a ] 11 No! Have only the men go and worship the Lord , since that’s what you have been asking for.” Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence.
12 And the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand ( Q ) over Egypt so that locusts swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail.”
13 So Moses stretched out his staff ( R ) over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; ( S ) 14 they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, ( T ) nor will there ever be again. 15 They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured ( U ) all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned ( V ) Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned ( W ) against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now forgive ( X ) my sin once more and pray ( Y ) to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”
18 Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord . ( Z ) 19 And the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. [ b ] Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, ( AA ) and he would not let the Israelites go.
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness ( AB ) spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness ( AC ) covered all Egypt for three days. 23 No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. ( AD )
24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, ( AE ) worship the Lord . Even your women and children ( AF ) may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.” ( AG )
25 But Moses said, “You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings ( AH ) to present to the Lord our God. 26 Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the Lord our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the Lord .”
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, ( AI ) and he was not willing to let them go. 28 Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.”
29 “Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear ( AJ ) before you again.”
