< Exodus 10 >
1 And YHWH says to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have declared his heart hard, and the heart of his servants, so that I set these signs of Mine in their midst,
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,
2 and so that you recount in the ears of your son, and of your son’s son, that which I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have set among them, and you have known that I [am] YHWH.”
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 all of you may know that I am the LORD.”
3 And Moses comes in—Aaron also—to Pharaoh, and they say to him, “Thus said YHWH, God of the Hebrews: Until when have you refused to be humbled at My presence? Send My people away, and they serve Me,
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.
4 for if you are refusing to send My people away, behold, tomorrow I am bringing in the locust into your border,
But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow.
5 and it has covered the eye of the land, and none is able to see the land, and it has eaten the remnant of that which is escaped, which is left to you from the hail, and it has eaten every tree which is springing out of the field for you;
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.
6 and they have filled your houses, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, which neither your fathers nor your father’s fathers have seen, since the day of their being on the ground to this day.” And he turns and goes out from Pharaoh.
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.
7 And the servants of Pharaoh say to him, “Until when does this [one] become a snare to us? Send the men away, and they serve their God YHWH; do you not yet know that Egypt has perished?”
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?”
8 And Moses is brought back—Aaron also—to Pharaoh, and he says to them, “Go, serve your God YHWH, but who—who [are] those going?”
So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the LORD your God,” he said. “But who exactly will be going?”
9 And Moses says, “With our young ones, and with our aged ones, we go, with our sons, and with our daughters, with our flock, and our herd, we go, for we have a festival to YHWH.”
“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.”
10 And he says to them, “Be it so, YHWH [is] with you when I send you and your infants away; see—for evil [is] before your faces.
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.
11 Not so! Go now, you who [are] men, and serve YHWH, for that you are seeking”; and [one] casts them out from the presence of Pharaoh.
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.
12 And YHWH says to Moses, “Stretch out your hand against the land of Egypt for the locust, and it goes up against the land of Egypt, and eats every herb of the land—all that the hail has left.”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and devour every plant in the land—everything that the hail has left behind.”
13 And Moses stretches out his rod against the land of Egypt, and YHWH has led an east wind over the land all that day, and all the night; the morning has been, and the east wind has lifted up the locust.
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.
14 And the locust goes up against all the land of Egypt, and rests in all the border of Egypt—very grievous: before it there has not been such a locust as it, and after it there is none such;
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.
15 and it covers the eye of all the land, and the land is darkened; and it eats every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail has left, and there has not been left any green thing in the trees, or in the herb of the field, in all the land of Egypt.
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.
16 And Pharaoh hurries to call for Moses and for Aaron and says, “I have sinned against your God YHWH, and against you,
Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
17 and now, please bear with my sin, only this time, and make supplication to your God YHWH, that He may turn aside from off me only this death.”
Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”
18 And he goes out from Pharaoh, and makes supplication to YHWH,
So Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the LORD.
19 and YHWH turns a very strong sea wind, and it lifts up the locust, and blows it into the Red Sea—there has not been left one locust in all the border of Egypt;
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.
20 and YHWH strengthens the heart of Pharaoh, and he has not sent the sons of Israel away.
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
21 And YHWH says to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens, and there is darkness over the land of Egypt, and the darkness is felt.”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”
22 And Moses stretches out his hand toward the heavens, and there is darkness—thick darkness in all the land of Egypt [for] three days;
So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days.
23 they have not seen one another, and none has risen from his place [for] three days; but there has been light for all the sons of Israel in their dwellings.
No one could see anyone else, and for three days no one left his place. Yet all the Israelites had light in their dwellings.
24 And Pharaoh calls to Moses and says, “Go, serve YHWH, only your flock and your herd are stayed, your infants also go with you”;
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.”
25 and Moses says, “You also give sacrifices and burnt-offerings in our hand, and we have prepared for our God YHWH;
But Moses replied, “You must also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD our God.
26 and also our livestock go with us—there is not left a hoof, for we take from it to serve our God YHWH; and we do not know how we serve YHWH until our going there.”
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.”
27 And YHWH strengthens the heart of Pharaoh, and he has not been willing to send them away;
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.
28 and Pharaoh says to him, “Go from me, take heed to yourself, do not add to see my face, for in the day you see my face you die”;
“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.”
29 and Moses says, “You have spoken correctly, I do not add to see your face anymore.”
“As you say,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.”