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,
And the LORD said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him:
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 thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how 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]
And Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh, and said to him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve 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.
Else, if thou shalt refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy land:
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.
And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the rest of that which hath escaped, which remaineth to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
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.
And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth to this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.
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]
And Pharaoh’s servants said to him, How long shall this man be a snare to us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
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?”
And Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh: and he said to them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go?
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.”
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 will we go; 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].
And he said to them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.
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].
Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye desired. And they were driven out 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.”
And the LORD said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
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.
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 that night; and when it was morning, the east wind 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.
And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the land of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
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.
For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing on the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through 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].
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he 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 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.
18 They/We left the king, and Moses/I prayed to Yahweh.
And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated 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 turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the land of 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, so that he would not let the children of Israel 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].”
And the LORD said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
22 So Moses/I reached his/my hand toward the sky, and it became totally dark all over Egypt for three days [and nights].
And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt 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.
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.
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.”
And Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be left behind: let your little ones also go with you.
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.
And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice 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.”
Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for of them must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come there.
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 would not 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!”
And Pharaoh said to him, Depart from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.
29 Moses/I replied, “You are correct! You will never see me [SYN] again!”
And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.
