The Tenth Plague: The Death of the Firstborn

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will certainly drive you completely out of here. ² Now tell the people that both the men and the women are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” ³ (The Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Even the man Moses was highly regarded in the land of Egypt in the sight of Pharaoh’s officials and the people.)

⁴ So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says. About midnight I will go throughout Egypt, ⁵ and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the hand mill, even all the firstborn of the livestock. ⁶ There will be a loud outcry in the entire land of Egypt, unlike anything that happened before or anything that will take place again. ⁷ But among all the Israelites, not a dog will bark^[a] at a person or animal, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. ⁸ All these officials of yours will come and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that, I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, went out from Pharaoh.

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord made Pharaoh’s heart hard, and he did not let the Israelites go out of his land.