Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt

1 ^(A)These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵ All the descendants of Jacob were ^(B)seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶ Then ^(C)Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ^7 (D)But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Pharaoh Oppresses Israel

⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ^(E)who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And he said to his people, “Behold, ^(F)the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. ^10 (G)Come, ^(H)let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” ¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them ^(I)to afflict them with heavy ^(J)burdens. They built for Pharaoh ^(K)store cities, Pithom and ^(L)Raamses. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. ¹³ So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel ^(M)work as slaves ¹⁴ and ^(N)made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶ “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives ^(O)feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” ¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” ^20 (P)So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God, ^(Q)he gave them families. ²² Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ^(R)“Every son that is born to the Hebrews^[a] you shall cast into ^(S)the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

The Birth of Moses

2 Now a ^(T)man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. ² The woman conceived and bore a son, and ^(U)when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. ³ When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes^[b] and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the ^(V)reeds by the river bank. ⁴ And ^(W)his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. ⁵ Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. ⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children.” ⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” ⁸ And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother. ⁹ And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became ^(X)her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I ^(Y)drew him out of the water.”^[c]

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹ One day, ^(Z)when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their ^(AA)burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.^{[d] 12} He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he ^(AB)struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ When ^(AC)he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” ¹⁴ He answered, ^(AD)“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But ^(AE)Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by ^(AF)a well.

¹⁶ Now the ^(AG)priest of Midian had seven daughters, and ^(AH)they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ¹⁷ The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and ^(AI)watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they came home to their father ^(AJ)Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” ¹⁹ They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and ^(AK)watered the flock.” ²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may ^(AL)eat bread.” ²¹ And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter ^(AM)Zipporah. ²² She gave birth to a son, and he called his name ^(AN)Gershom, for he said, “I have been a ^(AO)sojourner^[e] in a foreign land.”

God Hears Israel's Groaning

^23 (AP)During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel ^(AQ)groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. ^(AR)Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴ And ^(AS)God heard their groaning, and God ^(AT)remembered his covenant with ^(AU)Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ God ^(AV)saw the people of Israel—and God ^(AW)knew.

The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the ^(AX)mountain of God. ^2 (AY)And ^(AZ)the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, ^(BA)God called to him ^(BB)out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; ^(BC)take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ And he said, ^(BD)“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for ^(BE)he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, ^(BF)“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their ^(BG)taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸ and ^(BH)I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and ^(BI)to bring them up out of that land to a ^(BJ)good and broad land, a land ^(BK)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(BL)the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ And now, behold, ^(BM)the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the ^(BN)oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ^10 (BO)Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, ^(BP)“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² He said, ^(BQ)“But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^(BR)you shall serve God on this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”^[f] And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ^(BS)‘I am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord,^[g] the ^(BT)God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is ^(BU)my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. ¹⁶ Go and ^(BV)gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, ^(BW)“I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, ¹⁷ and I promise that ^(BX)I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land ^(BY)flowing with milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸ And ^(BZ)they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel ^(CA)shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has ^(CB)met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt ^(CC)will not let you go unless compelled ^(CD)by a mighty hand.^{[h] 20} So ^(CE)I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with ^(CF)all the wonders that I will do in it; ^(CG)after that he will let you go. ²¹ And ^(CH)I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, ²² but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for ^(CI)silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So ^(CJ)you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Moses Given Powerful Signs

4 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” ² The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, ^(CK)“A staff.” ³ And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. ⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ⁵ “that they may ^(CL)believe that the Lord, ^(CM)the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” ⁶ Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.”^[i] And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was ^(CN)leprous^[j] like snow. ⁷ Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, ^(CO)it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ⁸ “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. ⁹ If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile ^(CP)will become blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but ^(CQ)I am slow of speech and of tongue.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore go, and ^(CR)I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” ¹³ But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” ¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, ^(CS)he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ^15 (CT)You shall speak to him and ^(CU)put the words in his mouth, and ^(CV)I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. ^16 (CW)He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and ^(CX)you shall be as God to him. ¹⁷ And take in your hand ^(CY)this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Moses went back to ^(CZ)Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” ¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for ^(DA)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took ^(DB)his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(DC)the staff of God in his hand.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the ^(DD)miracles that I have put in your power. But ^(DE)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^(DF)Israel is my ^(DG)firstborn son, ²³ and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I ^(DH)will kill your firstborn son.’”

²⁴ At a lodging place on the way ^(DI)the Lord met him and ^(DJ)sought to put him to death. ²⁵ Then ^(DK)Zipporah took a ^(DL)flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses'^[k] feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” ²⁶ So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness ^(DM)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the ^(DN)mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸ And Moses ^(DO)told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all ^(DP)the signs that he had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron ^(DQ)went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. ^30 (DR)Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ And the people ^(DS)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had ^(DT)visited the people of Israel and that he had ^(DU)seen their affliction, ^(DV)they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Making Bricks Without Straw

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold ^(DW)a feast to me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, ^(DX)“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, ^(DY)I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “The ^(DZ)God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” ⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your ^(EA)burdens.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Behold, ^(EB)the people of the land are now many,^[l] and you make them rest from their burdens!” ⁶ The same day Pharaoh commanded the ^(EC)taskmasters of the people and their ^(ED)foremen, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

¹⁰ So the ^(EE)taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” ¹² So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The ^(EF)taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's ^(EG)taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

¹⁵ Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? ¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” ¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” ¹⁹ The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” ²⁰ They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; ²¹ and ^(EH)they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

²² Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

God Promises Deliverance

6 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with ^(EI)a strong hand he will ^(EJ)drive them out of his land.”

² God spoke to Moses and said to him, ^(EK)“I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^(EL)God Almighty,^[m] but by my name the ^(EM)Lord I did not make myself known to them. ^4 (EN)I also established my covenant with them ^(EO)to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. ⁵ Moreover, ^(EP)I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. ⁶ Say therefore to the people of Israel, ^(EQ)‘I am the Lord, and ^(ER)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and ^(ES)I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. ⁷ I ^(ET)will take you to be my people, and ^(EU)I will be your God, and you shall know that ^(EV)I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out ^(EW)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you into ^(EX)the land that I ^(EY)swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. ^(EZ)I am the Lord.’” ⁹ Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they ^(FA)did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

¹⁰ So the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” ¹² But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have ^(FB)not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for ^(FC)I am of uncircumcised lips?” ¹³ But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the ^(FD)sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. ¹⁵ The ^(FE)sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon. ¹⁶ These are the names of the ^(FF)sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. ¹⁷ The ^(FG)sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. ¹⁸ The ^(FH)sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. ¹⁹ The ^(FI)sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. ^20 (FJ)Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. ^21 (FK)The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² The ^(FL)sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of ^(FM)Amminadab and the sister of ^(FN)Nahshon, and she bore him ^(FO)Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²⁴ The ^(FP)sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. ²⁵ Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and ^(FQ)she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans.

²⁶ These are the Aaron and Moses ^(FR)to whom the Lord said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt ^(FS)by their hosts.” ²⁷ It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.

²⁸ On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ the Lord said to Moses, ^(FT)“I am the Lord; ^(FU)tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” ³⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, ^(FV)I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”

Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like ^(FW)God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your ^(FX)prophet. ^2 (FY)You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. ³ But ^(FZ)I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I ^(GA)multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, ⁴ Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. ⁵ The Egyptians ^(GB)shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” ⁶ Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷ Now Moses was ^(GC)eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh says to you, ^(GD)‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the ^(GE)magicians of Egypt, also ^(GF)did the same by their secret arts. ¹² For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Still ^(GG)Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, ^(GH)as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. ^15 (GI)Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand ^(GJ)the staff that turned into a ^(GK)serpent. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ‘The ^(GL)Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, ^(GM)that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, “By this ^(GN)you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and ^(GO)it shall turn into blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will ^(GP)grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^(GQ)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he ^(GR)lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the ^(GS)water in the Nile turned into blood. ²¹ And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians ^(GT)could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. ²² But ^(GU)the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So ^(GV)Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as ^(GW)the Lord had said. ²³ Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. ²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

²⁵ Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, ² and ^(A)that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, ^(B)that you may know that I am the Lord.”

³ So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to ^(C)humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. ⁴ For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring ^(D)locusts into your country, ⁵ and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall ^(E)eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, ⁶ and they shall fill ^(F)your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷ Then 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. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” ⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, ^(G)“Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?” ⁹ Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for ^(H)we must hold a feast to the Lord.” ¹⁰ But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your ^(I)little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.^{[a] 11} No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(J)“Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and ^(K)eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” ¹³ So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. ^14 (L)The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, ^(M)such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. ¹⁵ They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and ^(N)they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, ^(O)“I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. ¹⁷ Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and ^(P)plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” ¹⁸ So ^(Q)he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. ¹⁹ And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them ^(R)into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord ^(S)hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(T)“Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be ^(U)darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” ²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. ²³ They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but ^(V)all the people of Israel had light where they lived. ²⁴ Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, ^(W)“Go, serve the Lord; ^(X)your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” ²⁵ But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. ²⁶ Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.” ²⁷ But the Lord ^(Y)hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. ²⁸ Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” ²⁹ Moses said, “As you say! ^(Z)I will not see your face again.”

A Final Plague Threatened

11 The Lord said to Moses, “Yet ^(AA)one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. ^(AB)When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. ² Speak now in the hearing of the people, that ^(AC)they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” ^3 (AD)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: ^(AE)‘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 ^(AF)behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. ^6 (AG)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 ^(AH)against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord ^(AI)makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ ⁸ And ^(AJ)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, ^(AK)“Pharaoh will not listen to you, that ^(AL)my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

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

The Passover

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ^2 (AN)“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. ³ Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb ^(AO)according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. ⁴ And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be ^(AP)without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, ⁶ and you shall keep it until the ^(AQ)fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.^[b]

⁷ “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the ^(AR)two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. ⁸ They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with ^(AS)unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but ^(AT)roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. ¹⁰ And ^(AU)you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. ¹¹ In this manner you shall eat it: with ^(AV)your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. ^(AW)It is the Lord's Passover. ¹² For ^(AX)I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on ^(AY)all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: ^(AZ)I am the Lord. ^13 (BA)The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “This day shall be ^(BB)for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a ^(BC)statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. ^15 (BD)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, ^(BE)that person shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day you shall hold a ^(BF)holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. ¹⁷ And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for ^(BG)on this very day I brought your ^(BH)hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. ^18 (BI)In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ^19 (BJ)For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, ^(BK)that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, ^(BL)whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

²¹ Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves ^(BM)according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of ^(BN)hyssop and ^(BO)dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch ^(BP)the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. ^(BQ)None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. ^23 (BR)For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on ^(BS)the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and ^(BT)will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. ²⁴ You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. ²⁵ And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, ^(BU)as he has promised, you shall keep this service. ²⁶ And ^(BV)when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷ you shall say, ^(BW)‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people ^(BX)bowed their heads and worshiped.

²⁸ Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

^29 (BY)At midnight the ^(BZ)Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, ^(CA)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 ^(CB)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, ^(CC)both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. ^32 (CD)Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

The Exodus

^33 (CE)The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.”