A Final Plague Threatened

11 The Lord said to Moses, “Yet ^(A)one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. ^(B)When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. ² Speak now in the hearing of the people, that ^(C)they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” ^3 (D)And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people.

⁴ So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ^(E)‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is ^(F)behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. ^6 (G)There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. ⁷ But not a dog shall growl ^(H)against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord ^(I)makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ ⁸ And ^(J)all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(K)“Pharaoh will not listen to you, that ^(L)my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord ^(M)hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

^29 (A)At midnight the ^(B)Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, ^(C)from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. ³⁰ And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was ^(D)a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. ³¹ Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, ^(E)both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. ^32 (F)Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

The Exodus

^33 (G)The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. ³⁵ The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had ^(H)asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. ^36 (I)And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that ^(J)they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.