Exodus 10

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

1 Now the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him,2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your sons son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.3 So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.4 Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory.5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field.6 They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptianswhich neither your fathers nor your fathers fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day. And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.7 Then Pharaohs servants said to him, How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?8 So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, Go, serve the Lord your God. Who are the ones that are going?9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.10 Then he said to them, The Lord had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you.11 Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired. And they were driven out from Pharaohs presence.12 Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the landall that the hail has left.13 So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them.15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.17 Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only.18 So he went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord.19 And the Lord turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt.20 But the Lord hardened Pharaohs heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.23 They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.25 But Moses said, You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.26 Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.27 But the Lord hardened Pharaohs heart, and he would not let them go.28 Then Pharaoh said to him, Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!29 So Moses said, You have spoken well. I will never see your face again.

EXODUS 10

Locusts

1 The [Lord] said to Moses:
Go back to the king.t I have made him and his officials stubborn, so that I could work these miracles.

2 I 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].

3 Moses 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. 4 Do this by tomorrow, or I will cover your country with so many locustst 5 that 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.

6 Your palace, the homes of your officials, and all the other houses in Egypt will overflow with more locusts than have ever been seen in this country.
After Moses left the palace,

7 the 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?”

8 The 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 honor of the [Lord].”
10 The 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.

11 Do you want to worship the [Lord]? All right, take only the men and go.” Then Moses and Aaron were chased out of the palace.

12 The [Lord] told Moses, “Stretch your arm toward Egypt. Swarms of locusts will come and eat everything left by the hail.”
13 Moses 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 14 t were swarming everywhere. Never before had there been so many locusts in Egypt, and never again will there be so many.

15 The 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.
16 At once the king sent for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “I have sinned against the [Lord] your God and against you.

17 Forgive me one more time and ask the [Lord] to stop these insects from killing every living plant.”
18 Moses left the palace and prayed. 19 Then the [Lord] sent a strong west windt that swept the locusts into the Red Sea.t Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt,

20 but the [Lord] made the king so stubborn that he still refused to let the Israelites go.

Darkness

23 During that time, the Egyptians could not see each other or leave their homes, but there was light where the Israelites lived.

24 The kingt sent for Moses and told him, “Go 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,

26 and 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.”
27 This time the [Lord] made the king so stubborn

28 that 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.”