Exodus 10
1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Go to the king [again]. I have made him and his officials stubborn [IDM]. I have done that in order that I would [have a good reason to] perform all these plagues among them,
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 also in order that you would [be able to] tell your children and your grandchildren how I caused the Egyptians to act very foolishly [when] I performed all these miracles. Then all of you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].”
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 So Aaron and Moses/I went into the king’s [palace] and said to him, “Yahweh God, whom we Hebrews [worship], says this: ‘How long will you stubbornly refuse to do what I tell you [MTY]? Let my people go, in order that they may worship me [in the desert]
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 If you [keep] refusing to let them go, I warn you that tomorrow I will bring (locusts/[large flying insects called] locusts) into your country.
But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow.
5 [They will completely cover the ground so that] you will not even be able to see the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not [destroy]. They will eat [everything that is left on] the trees.
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 They will fill your houses, and the houses of all your officials, and the houses of all [the rest of] the Egyptians. [There will be more locusts] than you or your parents or your grandparents have ever seen, from the time your ancestors first came to [this] land until the present time!’” Then he/I turned and [Aaron and] I left the king.
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 The king’s officials said to him, “(How long is this man going to continue to bring disasters on us?/We must not let this man continue to cause trouble for us!) [RHQ] Let the [Israeli] men leave, in order that they may worship Yahweh, their god. (Do you not yet understand that [this man] has ruined Egypt?/You ought to realize by now that [this man] has ruined Egypt!)” [RHQ]
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 So they brought Aaron and Moses/me back to the king. He said to them/us, “[All right], you can go and worship Yahweh your god. But who are the ones who will go?”
So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the LORD your God,” he said. “But who exactly will be going?”
9 Moses/I replied, “We [all] need to go, everyone, including those who are young and those who are old. We need to take our sons and our daughters and our flocks [of sheep and goats] and herds [of livestock], because we must have a festival to [honor] Yahweh.”
“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 [Moses/I really did not intend that the Israelis would ever return to Egypt, and the king knew that also. So] the king replied [sarcastically], “[If you all leave], [it will be clear that] Yahweh has helped you, but I myself will never let you [take] your children [and your wives] when you go! It is clear that you are wickedly planning [not to return].
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 So no, [I will not let you all go]. [The Israeli] men may go [and worship Yahweh], if that is what you want.” Then the king expelled them/us from [his palace].
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 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Reach out your hand as [though you were stretching it] over the land to welcome the locusts. They will come to the country of Egypt and eat every plant that is [left] in the land, every plant that the hail has not destroyed.”
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 So Moses/I held out his/my stick [as though he/I was stretching it] over the whole land of Egypt. Then Yahweh caused a [strong] wind to blow from the east, and it blew over the land all that day and all that night. By the [next] morning, it had brought the locusts.
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 The locusts swarmed all over Egypt. It was larger than any swarm of locusts that had ever [been seen], and there will never be [a swarm of locusts like that] again.
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 They covered the surface of the ground and made it [appear] black. They ate all the plants in the land and everything on the trees that had not been destroyed by the hail. Nothing that was green was left on any plant or on any tree, anywhere in 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 The king quickly summoned Aaron and Moses/me and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh, your god, and against you [two].
Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
17 So now I ask you to forgive me this one time [for having] sinned, and pray to Yahweh your god to stop [these locusts] [MTY] [from causing everything] to die.”
Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”
18 They/We left the king, and Moses/I prayed to Yahweh.
So Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the LORD.
19 Then Yahweh changed the wind so that it blew [strongly] from the west, and it blew all the locusts into the Red Sea (OR, the Gulf of Suez). There was not one locust left anywhere in the country 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 But Yahweh made the king stubborn [IDM] [again], and he did not let the Israeli people go.
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
21 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Reach your hand up toward the sky, in order that there will be darkness over all the land of Egypt, a darkness [so complete] that people will have to grope around [to know where to walk].”
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 So Moses/I reached his/my hand toward the sky, and it became totally dark all over Egypt for three days [and nights].
So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days.
23 People could not see each other. No one left his house during that whole time. But there was light in the area where the Israeli people were living.
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 The king summoned Moses/me and said, “All right, you may go and worship Yahweh. [Your wives and] your children may go with you. But your flocks of sheep and goats and your herds of cattle must remain here.”
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 But Moses/I replied, “[No], you must let us [take along the sheep and goats, in order] that we may have [some of them] to sacrifice and give as burned offerings to Yahweh, our God.
But Moses replied, “You must also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD our God.
26 Our livestock must also go with us; we are not going to leave one of them [SYN] behind. We must take them to worship Yahweh. We will not know [which animals to sacrifice] until we get to where we are going.”
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 But Yahweh made the king [continue to be] stubborn [IDM], and he would not let [the Israeli] people go.
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.
28 The king said to me, “Get out of here! Make sure that you never come to see me [SYN] again! The day you see me again, [I will have] you executed!”
“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 Moses/I replied, “You are correct! You will never see me [SYN] again!”
“As you say,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.”
