Exodus 10
New American Standard Bible
The Plague of Locusts
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for (A)I have [a]hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, so that I may [b]perform these signs of Mine [c]among them, 2 and (B)that you may tell in the [d]presence of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I [e]performed My signs among them, (C)so that you may know that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews says: ‘How long will you refuse to (D)humble yourself before Me? (E)Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. 4 For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. 5 And they will cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. (F)They will also eat the rest of what has survived—what is left to you from the hail—and they will eat every tree of yours which grows [f]in the field. 6 Then (G)your houses will be filled with them, [g]together with the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they [h]came upon the earth until this day.’” And he turned and left Pharaoh. 7 Then (H)Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be (I)a snare to us? Let the [i]people go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet [j]realize that Egypt is destroyed?” 8 So Moses and Aaron (J)were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “(K)Go, serve the Lord your God! [k]Who specifically are the ones who are going?” 9 Moses said, “(L)We shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, (M)with our flocks and our herds we shall go, for we [l]must hold a feast to the Lord.” 10 Then he said to them, “So may the Lord be with you, when I let you and your little ones go! Watch out, for evil is [m]on your mind! 11 Not so! Go now, but only the men among you, and serve the Lord, since [n]that is what you desire.” So (N)they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “(O)Reach out with your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up on the land of Egypt and (P)eat every plant of the land, everything that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses reached out with his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind [o]brought the (Q)locusts. 14 (R)The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled in all the territory of Egypt; they were very [p]numerous. There had never been so many [q]locusts, nor would there be so many [r]again. 15 For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened; and they (S)ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Therefore nothing green was left on tree or plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh hurriedly (T)called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “(U)I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 So now, please forgive my sin only this once, and (V)plead with the Lord your God, that He would only remove this death from me.” 18 Then (W)he left Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. 19 So the Lord shifted the wind to a very strong west wind, which picked up the locusts and drove them into the [s]Red Sea; not one locust was left in all the territory of Egypt. 20 But (X)the Lord [t]hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go.
Darkness over the Land
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “(Y)Reach out with your hand toward the sky, so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness (Z)which may be felt.” 22 So Moses reached out with his hand toward the sky, and there was (AA)thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, (AB)but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. 24 Then Pharaoh (AC)called for Moses, and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be left behind. Even (AD)your little ones may go with you.” 25 But Moses said, “You must also [u]let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may [v]sacrifice them to the Lord our God. 26 (AE)Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the Lord our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the Lord.” 27 But (AF)the Lord [w]hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “(AG)Get away from me! [x]Be careful, do not see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you shall die!” 29 Moses said, “You have spoken correctly; (AH)I shall never see your face again!”
Footnotes
- Exodus 10:1 Lit made heavy
- Exodus 10:1 Lit put
- Exodus 10:1 Lit in his midst
- Exodus 10:2 Lit ears
- Exodus 10:2 Lit put
- Exodus 10:5 Lit from
- Exodus 10:6 Lit and the
- Exodus 10:6 Lit were
- Exodus 10:7 Or men
- Exodus 10:7 Lit know
- Exodus 10:8 Lit Who and who are
- Exodus 10:9 Lit have a feast
- Exodus 10:10 Lit before your face
- Exodus 10:11 Lit you desire it
- Exodus 10:13 Lit carried
- Exodus 10:14 Lit heavy
- Exodus 10:14 Lit locusts like them before them
- Exodus 10:14 Lit after them
- Exodus 10:19 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Exodus 10:20 Lit made strong
- Exodus 10:25 Lit hand over
- Exodus 10:25 Lit make them for
- Exodus 10:27 Lit made strong
- Exodus 10:28 Lit Take care for yourself
Exodus 10
Living Bible
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go back again and make your demand upon Pharaoh; but I have hardened him and his officials, so that I can do more miracles demonstrating my power. 2 What stories you can tell your children and grandchildren about the incredible things I am doing in Egypt! Tell them what fools I made of the Egyptians, and how I proved to you that I am Jehovah.”
3 So Moses and Aaron requested another audience with Pharaoh and told him: “Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, asks, ‘How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go so they can worship me. 4-5 If you refuse, tomorrow I will cover the entire nation with a thick layer of locusts so that you won’t even be able to see the ground, and they will finish destroying everything that escaped the hail. 6 They will fill your palace, and the homes of your officials, and all the houses of Egypt. Never in the history of Egypt has there been a plague like this will be!’” Then Moses stalked out.
7 The court officials now came to Pharaoh and asked him, “Are you going to destroy us completely? Don’t you know even yet that all Egypt lies in ruins? Let the men go and serve Jehovah their God!”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “All right, go and serve Jehovah your God!” he said. “But just who is it you want to go?”
9 “We will go with our sons and daughters, flocks and herds,” Moses replied. “We will take everything with us; for we must all join in the holy pilgrimage.”
10 “In the name of God I will not let you take your little ones!” Pharaoh retorted. “I can see your plot! 11 Never! You that are men, go and serve Jehovah, for that is what you asked for.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Hold out your hand over the land of Egypt to bring locusts—they will cover the land and eat everything the hail has left.”
13 So Moses lifted his rod and Jehovah caused an east wind to blow all that day and night; and when it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 And the locusts covered the land of Egypt from border to border; it was the worst locust plague in all Egyptian history; and there will never again be another like it. 15 For the locusts covered the face of the earth and blotted out the sun so that the land was darkened; and they ate every bit of vegetation the hail had left; there remained not one green thing—not a tree, not a plant throughout all the land of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh sent an urgent call for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I confess my sin against Jehovah your God and against you. 17 Forgive my sin only this once, and beg Jehovah your God to take away this deadly plague. I solemnly promise that I will let you go as soon as the locusts are gone.”
18 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord, 19 and he sent a very strong west wind that blew the locusts out into the Red Sea, so that there remained not one locust in all the land of Egypt! 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not let the people go.
21 Then Jehovah said to Moses, “Lift your hands to heaven, and darkness without a ray of light will descend upon the land of Egypt.” 22 So Moses did, and there was thick darkness over all the land for three days. 23 During all that time the people scarcely moved—but all the people of Israel had light as usual.
24 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and said, “Go and worship Jehovah—but let your flocks and herds stay here; you can even take your children with you.”
25 “No,” Moses said, “we must take our flocks and herds for sacrifices and burnt offerings to Jehovah our God. 26 Not a hoof shall be left behind; for we must have sacrifices for the Lord our God, and we do not know what he will choose until we get there.”
27 So the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not let them go.
28 “Get out of here and don’t let me ever see you again,” Pharaoh shouted at Moses. “The day you do, you shall die.”
29 “Very well,” Moses replied. “I will never see you again.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.