Exodus 10
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Go in to Pharao: for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that these signs may come upon them; in order
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 that you may relate in the ears of your children, and to your children's children, in how many things I have mocked the Egyptians, and my wonders which I wrought among them; and you shall 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 before Pharao, and they said to him, These things says the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long do you refuse to reverence me? Send my people away, 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 But if you will not send my people away, behold, at this hour to-morrow I will bring an abundance of locusts upon all your coasts.
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, and you shall not be able to see the earth; and they shall devour all that is left of the abundance of the earth, which the hail has left you, and shall devour every tree that grows for you on the land.
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 your houses shall be filled, and the houses of your servants, and all the houses in all the land of the Egyptians; things which your fathers have never seen, nor their forefathers, from the day that they were upon the earth until this day. And Moses turned away and departed from Pharao.
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 the servants of Pharao say to him, How long shall this be a snare to us? send away the men, that they may serve their God; will you know 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 they brought back both Moses and Aaron to Pharao; and he said to them, Go and serve the Lord your God; but who are they that are going with you?
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 the young and the old, with our sons, and daughters, and sheep, and oxen, for it is a feast of 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 to them, So let the Lord be with you: as I [will] send you away, [must I send away] you store also? see that evil is attached to you.
“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, but let the men go and serve God, for this you yourselves seek; and they cast them out from the presence of Pharao.
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 to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, and let the locust come up on the land, and it shall devour every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees, which the hail 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 lifted up his rod towards heaven, and the Lord brought a south wind upon the earth, all that day and all that night: the morning dawned, and the south wind brought up 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 brought them up over all the land of Egypt. And they rested in very great abundance over all the borders of Egypt. Before them there were not such locusts, neither after them shall there be.
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 And they covered the face of the earth, and the land was wasted, and they devoured all the herbage of the land, and all the fruit of the trees, which was left by the hail: there was no green thing left on the trees, nor on all the herbage of the field, in 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 And Pharao hasted to call Moses and Aaron, saying, I have sinned before 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 pardon therefore my sin yet this time, and pray to the Lord your God, and let him take away from me this death.
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 Moses went forth from Pharao, and prayed to God.
Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.
19 And the Lord brought in the opposite direction a strong wind from the sea, and took up the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea, and there was not one locust left in all the land 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 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharao, and he did not send away the children of Israel.
But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites go.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand to heaven, and let there be darkness over the land of Egypt—darkness that 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 out his hand to heaven, and there was darkness very black, even a storm over 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 And for three days no man saw his brother, and no man rose up from his bed for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in all the places where they were.
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 Pharao called Moses and Aaron, saying, Go, serve the Lord your God, only leave your sheep and your oxen, and let your store depart 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, Nay, but you shall give to us whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, which we will sacrifice to 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 And our cattle shall go with us, and we will not leave a hoof behind, for of them we will take to serve the Lord our God: but we know not in what manner we shall serve the Lord our God, until we arrive there.
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 the heart of Pharao, and he would not let them go.
But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn, and he would not let them go.
28 And Pharao says, Depart from me, beware of seeing my face again, for in what day you shall appear before me, you shall 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 says, You have said, I will not appear in your presence again.
“May it be as you say,” Moses replied. “I won't see you again.”
