Exodus 10
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
The Eighth Plague: Locusts
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may do these miraculous signs of mine among them,[a](A) 2 and so that you may tell[b] your son and grandson(B) how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am the Lord.’
3 So Moses and Aaron went in 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, that they may worship me.(C) 4 But if you refuse to let my people go, then tomorrow I will bring locusts(D) into your territory. 5 They will cover the surface of the land so that no one will be able to see the land. They will eat the remainder left(E) to you that escaped the hail; they will eat every tree you have growing in the fields. 6 They will fill your houses, all your officials’ houses, and the houses of all the Egyptians – something your fathers and grandfathers never saw since the time they occupied the land until today.’ Then he turned and left Pharaoh’s presence.
7 Pharaoh’s officials asked him, ‘How long must this man be a snare(F) to us? Let the men go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Don’t you realise yet that Egypt is devastated? ’
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. ‘Go, worship the Lord your God,’ Pharaoh said. ‘But exactly who will be going? ’
9 Moses replied, ‘We will go with our young and with our old; we will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds because we must hold the Lord’s festival.’(G)
10 He said to them, ‘The Lord would have to be with you if I would ever let you and your families go! Look out – you’re heading for trouble. 11 No, go – just able-bodied men – worship the Lord, since that’s what you want.’ And they were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
12 The Lord then said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, and the locusts will come up over it and eat every plant in the land, everything that the hail left.’ 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord sent an east wind over the land all that day and through the night. By morning the east wind had brought in the locusts. 14 The locusts went up over the entire land of Egypt and settled on the whole territory of Egypt. Never before had there been such a large number of locusts, and there never will be again.(H) 15 They covered the surface of the whole land so that the land was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on the trees or the plants in the field throughout the land of Egypt.(I)
16 Pharaoh urgently sent for Moses and Aaron and said, ‘I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Please forgive my sin once more and make an appeal to the Lord your God, so that he will just take this death away from me.’ 18 Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the Lord.(J) 19 Then the Lord changed the wind to a strong west[c] wind, and it carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea.(K) Not a single locust was left in all the territory of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,(L) and he did not let the Israelites go.
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand towards heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.’ 22 So Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. 23 One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived.(M)
24 Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, ‘Go, worship the Lord. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.’
25 Moses responded, ‘You must also let us have[d] sacrifices and burnt offerings to prepare for the Lord our God. 26 Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind because we will take some of them to worship the Lord our God. We will not know what we will use to worship the Lord until we get there.’
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,(N) and he was unwilling to let them go. 28 Pharaoh said to him, ‘Leave me! Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.’
29 ‘As you have said,’ Moses replied, ‘I will never see your face again.’(O)
Exodus 10
New King James Version
The Eighth Plague: Locusts(A)
10 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; (B)for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, (C)that I may show these signs of Mine before him, 2 and that (D)you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may (E)know that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to (F)humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may (G)serve Me. 4 Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring (H)locusts into your territory. 5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and (I)they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. 6 They shall (J)fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’ ” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
7 Then Pharaoh’s (K)servants said to him, “How long shall this man be (L)a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. Who are the ones that are going?”
9 And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for (M)we must hold a feast to the Lord.”
10 Then he said to them, “The Lord had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. 11 Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven (N)out from Pharaoh’s presence.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, (O)“Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and (P)eat every herb of the land—all that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14 And (Q)the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; (R)previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. 15 For they (S)covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they (T)ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh called (U)for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, (V)“I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and (W)entreat[a] the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only.” 18 So he (X)went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. 19 And the Lord turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them (Y)into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt. 20 But the Lord (Z)hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, (AA)“Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, [b]darkness which may even be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was (AB)thick darkness in all the land of Egypt (AC)three days. 23 They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. (AD)But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and (AE)said, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your (AF)little ones also go with you.”
25 But Moses said, “You must also give [c]us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. 26 Our (AG)livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.”
27 But the Lord (AH)hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, (AI)“Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!”
29 So Moses said, “You have spoken well. (AJ)I will never see your face again.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 10:17 make supplication to
- Exodus 10:21 Lit. that one may feel the darkness
- Exodus 10:25 Lit. into our hands
Exodus 10
EasyEnglish Bible
8: Locusts
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to see Pharaoh. I have caused his mind to become hard. I have also caused his officers' minds to become hard. I have done this so that I can do miracles to show him my power. 2 In the future, you can tell your children and your children's children how I punished the Egyptians. You can tell them about the miracles that I did among the Egyptians. In this way, you will know that I am the Lord.’
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Israelites says this: “You are still too proud to obey me. Let my people go so that they may worship me. 4 If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. 5 They will cover the whole country. Nobody will be able to see the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not destroy. They will eat any crops that you still have. That will include every tree that is growing in your fields. 6 They will fill your houses, and your officers' houses. They will fill all the houses in Egypt! It will be worse than anything that your fathers or your grandfathers have ever seen. Nothing like this has ever happened in Egypt before now.” ’ Then Moses turned away and left Pharaoh.
7 Pharaoh's officers said to him, ‘Will you let this man bring trouble to us for ever? Allow the people to go. Then they can worship the Lord their God. Surely you understand by now that this man has destroyed Egypt!’
8 So Pharaoh's officers took Moses and Aaron back to him. Pharaoh said to them, ‘Go and worship the Lord your God. But tell me, who will go?’
9 Moses said, ‘We will all go, both young people and old people. We will take our sons and daughters. We will also take our animals, because we must have a feast to worship the Lord.’
10 Pharaoh said to them, ‘No! If I let you go with your families like that, you will need the Lord to take care of you! I can see that you want to make trouble. 11 No! If you really want to go and worship the Lord, only the men can go.’ Pharaoh was angry and he told Moses and Aaron to go away.[a]
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand over the country of Egypt. Then locusts will fly all over the land. They will eat every plant that grows in the ground. They will eat everything that the hail has not destroyed.’
13 So Moses lifted up his stick over the country of Egypt. Then the Lord caused an east wind to blow across the land, for the whole day and the whole night. In the morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts flew into every part of the country of Egypt. Thousands of locusts sat on everything. There had never been so many locusts in Egypt before. And it will never happen again. 15 The locusts covered all the ground, until the ground became black with locusts. They ate all the plants that grew in the ground, and all the fruit of the trees. They ate everything that the hail had not destroyed. Not one green thing remained on any tree or plant, in all the country of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said, ‘I have done bad things against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Please forgive my sins just one more time. Ask the Lord your God to remove this punishment of death from me.’
18 Moses left Pharaoh and he prayed to the Lord. 19 Then the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind. This wind lifted the locusts up and it blew them away into the Red Sea.[b] Not one locust remained in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to become hard again. Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go.
9: Darkness
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand towards the sky. Then it will become dark over the whole country of Egypt. It will be so dark that people will be able to feel it.’ 22 So Moses lifted up his hand towards the sky and it became completely dark. It was dark through the whole country of Egypt for three days. 23 People could not see each other. Nobody could move anywhere for three days. But the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.
24 Then Pharaoh called Moses to come to him. He said, ‘Go and worship the Lord. Even your families may go with you. Only your animals must remain in Egypt.’
25 But Moses said, ‘Then you will have to give us animals for our sacrifices and burnt offerings. We need our animals to offer to the Lord our God.[c] 26 So we must take our animals with us. Not one animal can remain behind. We must take them to worship the Lord our God. Until we arrive in the desert, we will not know which animals to use as sacrifices.’
27 But the Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to be hard. Pharaoh would not agree to let the Israelites go. 28 Pharaoh said to Moses, ‘Go away from me! Be careful not to come back! I never want to see you again! On the day that you see my face, you will die!’
29 Moses replied, ‘You are right! You will never see me again.’
Footnotes
- 10:11 Pharaoh does not want God to be with them. If he let the families go, he would be doing a good thing to the Israelites. It would be like God was going with them. But Pharaoh does not want to do this. He does not want to do a good thing for the Israelites.
- 10:19 The ‘Red Sea’ is also called the Sea of Reeds (water grasses). It is to the east of Egypt.
- 10:25 The Israelites killed animals as sacrifices. Then they burned them on an altar as a gift to God.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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