Exodus 10
1 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 show these My signs in the midst of them;
The Lord told Moses, “Go and see Pharaoh, because it was me who gave him and his officials a stubborn attitude so that I may perform my miracles before them.
2 and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what I have wrought upon Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them; that ye may know that I am the LORD.'
This is so you can tell your children and grandchildren how I made the Egyptians look foolish by doing these miracles among them, and so that you may know that I am the Lord.”
3 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him: 'Thus saith the LORD, the God of the Hebrews: How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before Me? let My people go, that they may serve Me.
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long are you going to refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they can worship me.
4 Else, if thou refuse to let My people go, behold, to-morrow will I bring locusts into thy border;
If you refuse to let my people leave, tomorrow I will send a plague of locusts into your country.
5 and they shall cover the face of the earth, that one shall not 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;
There will be so many of them that they'll cover the ground so no one can see it. They will eat whatever crops were left by the hail, as well as every tree growing in your fields.
6 and thy houses shall be filled, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither thy fathers nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day.' And he turned, and went out from Pharaoh.
They will swarm into your houses and into the houses of all your officials—in fact into the houses of every Egyptian. This is something that none of your forefathers ever saw from the time they arrived in this country.’” Then Moses and Aaron turned and left 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?'
Pharaoh's officials came to him and asked, “How long are you going to let this man cause us trouble? Let these people go so they can worship the Lord their God. Don't you realize that Egypt has been 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?'
Moses and Aaron were brought back to see Pharaoh. “Go and worship the Lord your God,” he told them. “But who of you will be going?”
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 we will go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.'
“We will all go,” Moses replied. “Young and old, sons and daughters—and we'll take our flocks and herds with us, for we're going to have a religious festival for the Lord.”
10 And he said unto them: 'So be the LORD with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones; see ye that evil is before your face.
“The Lord really would have to be with you if I let your children go with you!” Pharaoh answered. “Clearly you're planning some kind of evil trick!
11 Not so; go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that is what ye desire.' And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
So no! Only the men can go and worship the Lord, because that's what you've been asking for.” Then he had Moses and Aaron thrown out.
12 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Stretch out thy 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.'
The Lord told Moses, “Lift up your hand over Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and eat every plant in the country—everything that was left by the hail.”
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 the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
Moses held out his staff over Egypt, and all through that day and night the Lord sent an east wind blowing over the land. By the time morning came the east wind had brought in the locusts.
14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt; very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
The locusts swarmed across the land and settled in every part of the country. There had never been such a swarm of locusts ever before, and there won't be ever again.
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, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
They covered the ground until it looked black, and they ate up all the plants in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that had been left by the hail. Not a single green leaf was left on any tree or plant anywhere in 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.
Pharaoh called urgently for Moses and Aaron and 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 entreat the LORD your God, that He may take away from me this death only.'
So please forgive my sin just this one time and plead with the Lord your God, asking him to at least take away this deathly plague from me.”
18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD.
Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.
19 And the LORD turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea; there remained not one locust in all the border of Egypt.
The Lord changed the direction of the wind so that a strong westerly wind blew the locusts into the Red Sea. There wasn't a single locust left anywhere in Egypt.
20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites go.
21 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.'
The Lord told Moses, “Lift your hand toward the sky so that darkness will fall over Egypt, darkness so thick that it can 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;
Moses lifted up his hand toward heaven, and the whole of Egypt went completely dark for 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.
No one could see anyone else, and no one moved from where they were for three days. But there was still light where all the Israelites lived.
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.'
Eventually Pharaoh called for Moses. “Go and worship the Lord,” he said. “Just leave your flocks and herds here. You can even take your children with you.”
25 And Moses said: 'Thou must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt-offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God.
But Moses replied, “You must also let us have animals for sacrifices and burnt offerings, so we can offer them to the Lord our God.
26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a 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.'
Our livestock have to go with us too—not a single animal will be left behind. We'll need some of them to worship the Lord our God, and we won't know how we are to worship the Lord until we get there.”
27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.
But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn, 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 the day thou seest my face thou shalt die.'
Pharaoh shouted at Moses, “Get out of here! I don't want to see you ever again! If I ever do see you again you'll die!”
29 And Moses said: 'Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face again no more.'
“May it be as you say,” Moses replied. “I won't see you again.”
