< 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,
And the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh: for I have made his heart and the hearts of his servants hard, so that I may let my signs be seen 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 so that you may be able to give to your son and to your son's son the story of my wonders in Egypt, and the signs which I have done among them; so that you may see 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,
Then Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you be lifted up in your pride before me? let my people go so that they may give me worship.
4 for if you are refusing to send My people away, behold, tomorrow I am bringing in the locust into your border,
For if you will not let my people go, tomorrow I will send locusts into your land:
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;
And the face of the earth will be covered with them, so that you will not be able to see the earth: and they will be the destruction of everything which up to now has not been damaged, everything which was not crushed by the ice-storm, and every tree still living 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.
And your houses will be full of them, and the houses of your servants and of all the Egyptians; it will be worse than anything your fathers have seen or their fathers, from the day when they were living on the earth till this day. And so he went out from Pharaoh.
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?”
And Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long is this man to be the cause of evil to us? let the men go so that they may give worship to the Lord their God: are you not awake to Egypt's danger?
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?”
Then Moses and Aaron came in again before Pharaoh: and he said to them, Go and give worship to the Lord your God: but which of you are 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.”
And Moses said, We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds; for we are to keep 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.
And he said to them, May the Lord be with you, if I will let you and your little ones go! take care, for your purpose clearly is 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.
Not so; but let your males go and give worship to the Lord, as your desire is. This he said, driving them out from before him.
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.”
And the Lord said to Moses, Let your hand be stretched out over the land of Egypt so that the locusts may come up on the land for the destruction of every green plant in the land, even everything untouched by the ice-storm.
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.
And Moses' rod was stretched out over the land of Egypt, and the Lord sent an east wind over the land all that day and all the night; and in the morning the locusts came up with the east wind.
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;
And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, resting on every part of the land, in very great numbers; such an army of locusts had never been seen before, and never will be again.
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.
For all the face of the earth was covered with them, so that the land was black; and every green plant and all the fruit of the trees which was untouched by the ice-storm they took for food: not one green thing, no plant or tree, was to be seen 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,
Then Pharaoh quickly sent for Moses and Aaron, and said, I have done evil 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.”
Let me now have forgiveness for my sin this time only, and make prayer to the Lord your God that he will take away from me this death only.
18 And he goes out from Pharaoh, and makes supplication to YHWH,
So he went out from Pharaoh and made prayer 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 sent a very strong west wind, which took up the locusts, driving them into the Red Sea; not one locust was to be seen in any part of Egypt.
20 and YHWH strengthens the heart of Pharaoh, and he has not sent the sons of Israel away.
But the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard, and he did not let the children of Israel 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.”
And the Lord said to Moses, Let your hand be stretched out to heaven, and all the land of Egypt will be dark, so that men will be feeling their way about in the dark.
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;
And when Moses' hand was stretched out, dark night came over 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.
They were not able to see one another, and no one got up from his place for three days: but where the children of Israel were living it was light.
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 sent for Moses, and said, Go and give worship to the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept here: your little ones may go with you.
25 and Moses says, “You also give sacrifices and burnt-offerings in our hand, and we have prepared for our God YHWH;
But Moses said, You will have to let us take burned offerings to put before 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.”
So our cattle will have to go with us, not one may be kept back; for they are needed for the worship of the Lord our God; we have no knowledge what offering we have to give till we come to the place.
27 And YHWH strengthens the heart of Pharaoh, and he has not been willing to send them away;
But the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard, and he would not 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”;
And Pharaoh said to him, Go away from me, take care that you come not again before me; for the day when you see my face again will be your last.
29 and Moses says, “You have spoken correctly, I do not add to see your face anymore.”
And Moses said, You say truly; I will not see your face again.

< Exodus 10 >