CHAPTER 10
Then the LORD
said
to
Moses,
“Go
to
Pharaoh,
for
I
have hardened
his heart
and the hearts
of his officials,
that
I may perform
these
miraculous signs of Mine
among them,
and that
you may tell
your children
and grandchildren
how
severely I dealt
with the Egyptians
when I performed
miraculous signs
among them,
so that you may know
that
I
am the LORD.”
So Moses
and Aaron
went
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,
so that they may worship Me.
They will cover
the face
of the land
so that no
one can
see
it.
They will devour
whatever is
left
after
the hail
and eat
every
tree
that grows
in your
fields.
They will fill
your houses
and the houses
of all
your officials
and
every
Egyptian—
something
neither
your fathers
nor your grandfathers
have seen
since the day
they came into
this land.’”
Then Moses turned
and left
Pharaoh’s presence.
Pharaoh’s
officials
asked him,
“How long
will this
man be
a snare to us?
Let the people
go,
so that they may worship
the LORD
their God.
Do you not yet realize
that
Egypt
is in ruins?”
So Moses
and Aaron
were brought back
to
Pharaoh.
“Go,
worship
the LORD
your God,”
he said.
“But who exactly
will be going?”
“We will go
with our young
and old,”
Moses
replied.
“We will go
with our sons
and daughters,
and with our flocks
and herds,
for
we must hold a feast
to the LORD.”
Then Pharaoh
told them,
“May the LORD
be
with you
if I ever
let you go
with your little ones.
Clearly
you are bent
on evil.
No,
only the men
may go
and worship
the LORD,
since
that is what you
have been requesting.”
And Moses and Aaron were driven
from
Pharaoh’s
presence.
Then the LORD
said
to
Moses,
“Stretch out
your hand
over
the land
of Egypt,
that the locusts
may swarm
over
it
and devour
every
plant
in the land—
everything
that
the hail
has left behind.”
So Moses
stretched out
his staff
over
the land
of Egypt,
and throughout
that
day
and night
the LORD
sent
an east
wind
across the land.
By morning
the east
wind
had brought
the locusts.
The locusts
swarmed
across
the land
and settled
over the entire
territory
of Egypt.
Never
before
had there been
so
many
locusts,
and never
again will there be.
They covered
the face
of all
the land
until it
was black,
and they consumed
all
the plants
on the ground
and all
the fruit
on the trees
that
the hail
had left behind.
Nothing
green
was left
on any tree
or plant
in all
the land
of Egypt.
Pharaoh
quickly
summoned
Moses
and Aaron
and said,
“I have sinned
against the LORD
your God
and against you.
Now
please
forgive
my sin
once more
and appeal
to the LORD
your God,
so that He will remove
this
death
from me.”
And the LORD
changed the wind
to a very strong
west
wind
that carried off
the locusts
and blew
them into the Red
Sea.
Not
a single
locust
remained
anywhere
in
Egypt.
Then the LORD
said
to
Moses,
“Stretch out
your hand
toward
heaven,
so that darkness
will spread
over
the land
of Egypt—
a palpable
darkness.”
So Moses
stretched out
his hand
toward
heaven,
and total
darkness
covered
all
the land
of Egypt
for three
days.
No
one
could see
each other,
and for three
days
no one
left
his place.
Yet all
the Israelites
had
light
in their dwellings.
Then Pharaoh
summoned
Moses
and said,
“Go,
worship
the LORD.
Even
your little ones
may go
with you;
only
your flocks
and herds
must stay behind.”
But Moses
replied,
“You
must also
provide
us with
sacrifices
and burnt offerings
to present
to the LORD
our God.
Even
our livestock
must go
with us;
not
a hoof
will be left behind,
for
we will need
some of
them to worship
the LORD
our God,
and we will
not
know
how
we are to worship
the LORD
until
we arrive.”
“Depart
from me!”
Pharaoh
said to Moses.
“Make sure
you never
see
my face
again,
for
on the day
you see
my face,
you will die.”