Exodus 10
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 10
Eighth Plague: The Locusts.[a] 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his ministers so that I may perform these signs in their midst 2 and so that you can tell your sons and grandsons how I dealt with the Egyptians and the signs I worked in their midst so that they may know that I am the Lord.”
3 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go so that they may serve me. 4 If you refuse to let my people go, behold, I will send locusts upon your land. 5 They will cover the entire country so that you cannot even see the soil. They will devour what is left, whatever survived the hail, and they will devour every tree that grows in your fields. 6 They will fill your house, the houses of all your ministers and the houses of all the Egyptians, so many that even your fathers never saw so many, nor the fathers of your fathers, from when they came into this land until today.’ ” He turned and left Pharaoh.
7 The ministers of Pharaoh said to him, “How long will he be a snare to us? Let this people go to serve the Lord, their God. Otherwise Egypt may be ruined.”
8 Moses and Aaron were summoned to Pharaoh who said to them, “Go, serve the Lord, your God. But who will leave with you?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our animals and our flocks, so that we can celebrate a feast of the Lord.”
10 [b]Pharaoh answered, “The Lord be with you, if I let you and your children leave. Clearly you have an evil project in mind. 11 No! Have only the men go with you and serve the Lord. That is what you want.” They then went out from Pharaoh.
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt to send locusts. Let them come down upon the land of Egypt to eat every plant that the hail spared.” 13 Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord sent an east wind over the land all that day and all that night. By the morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts swarmed over the whole land of Egypt and settled on every part of the territory of Egypt. It was very serious, so bad that it had never been as bad before nor would it ever be as bad again in the future. 15 They covered the whole land so that the land was darkened. They devoured every plant in the land and every fruit tree that the hail had spared. Not a green leaf remained upon the trees or the plants in the field throughout the land of Egypt.
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord, your God, and against you. 17 But now once again forgive my sin and pray to the Lord, your God, so that he may turn aside this death from me.”
18 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 19 The Lord changed the direction of the wind and made a strong wind blow from the sea. It carried the locusts away and blew them into the Red Sea. There was not one locust left in all the land of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not let the children of Israel leave.
21 Ninth Plague: The Darkness.[c] The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens. Darkness will come upon the land of Egypt, so dark that one can feel it.”
22 Moses stretched out his hand toward the heavens. Darkness came upon the land of Egypt for three days. 23 People could not see each other, and for three days no one could move around. But there was light where the children of Israel were living.[d]
24 Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Leave, and serve the Lord. Take your babies with you. Only leave your flocks and herds here.”
25 Moses answered, “You must also grant us sacrifices and burnt offerings that we will offer to the Lord, our God. 26 Our animals, too, must leave with us; not even a hoof will be left behind. We must choose the sacrificial victims that we will offer to the Lord, our God, from among them, and we will not know how to serve the Lord until we will have arrived in that place.” 27 But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh who would not let them go. 28 Pharaoh therefore said to Moses, “Leave me! Make sure that you never see me again, for the next time you see my face, you will die.” 29 Moses said, “You have spoken well, for I will not see your face again.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 10:1 By remaining obstinate, Pharaoh furnishes God with the occasion to multiply his wonders and show that he is really the Lord.
- Exodus 10:10 Pharaoh does not trust the Hebrews and wants to keep the women and children in Egypt as hostages.
- Exodus 10:21 Is this the rupture between Moses and Pharaoh? All Moses’ warnings have remained without effect.
- Exodus 10:23 The Israelites were spared the destructive effects of the plagues, whereas the Egyptians had a foretaste of what hell is like. We have the assurance of God’s faithfulness to those who remain faithful to God (see Deut 7:6).
Exodus 10
Holman Christian Standard Bible
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 Yahweh.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what Yahweh, 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 ancestors 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 Yahweh their God. Don’t you realize yet that Egypt is devastated?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship Yahweh your God,” Pharaoh said. “But exactly who will be going?”
9 Moses replied, “We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds because we must hold Yahweh’s festival.”(G)
10 He said to them, “May Yahweh be with you if I ever let you and your families go![c] Look out—you are planning evil. 11 No, only the men may go and worship Yahweh, for that is what you have been asking for.” 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 Yahweh your God and against you. 17 Please forgive my sin once more and make an appeal to Yahweh your God, so that He will 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[d] 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 toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward 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 Yahweh. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”
25 Moses responded, “You must also let us have[e] sacrifices and burnt offerings to prepare for Yahweh 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 Yahweh our God. We will not know what we will use to worship Yahweh 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)
Footnotes
- Exodus 10:1 Lit Mine in his midst
- Exodus 10:2 Lit tell in the ears of
- Exodus 10:10 Pharaoh’s reply is sarcastic.
- Exodus 10:19 Lit sea
- Exodus 10:25 Lit also give in our hand
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