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
The Voice
10 Eternal One (to Moses): Go pay Pharaoh another visit. I have made his heart and his servants’ hearts as hard as stone, so that I can perform My wondrous signs among them and reveal My power. 2 I have done all these things so that you can tell your children and grandchildren stories of how I treated the cruel Egyptians with contempt and performed My signs among them. I have done all this so that you may believe I am the Eternal.
3 So once again Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh.
Moses and Aaron: The Eternal, the God of the Hebrews, has a message for you: “How long do you plan to resist Me and refuse to humble yourself before Me? Release My people, so that they can go and serve Me in the desert. 4 If you refuse to release My people, tomorrow I will fill your land with locusts, 5 and they will blanket the ground. There will be so many that you will not be able to see the ground! The locusts will devour every crop the hail did not destroy, and their horde will strip every tree that grows in your fields! 6 They will fill every corner of your houses, your servants’ houses, and all the Egyptians’ houses. This will be a spectacle that none of your ancestors have ever seen—never from the day that they were born until this present day.”
Starvation for the majority of Egyptians is becoming a real possibility. How far they have come from Joseph’s day when Egypt fed the world!
Moses then turned and left Pharaoh.
Servants (to Pharaoh): 7 How much longer will you let this man trap us? Why don’t you just release the people and let them go serve the Eternal their God? Look around you! Don’t you see that Egypt is in ruins?
8 Then Pharaoh had Moses and Aaron brought back to him.
Pharaoh: Some of your people may go and serve this God of yours, the Eternal! But not all. Who will be going with you?
Moses: 9 No. All of us must go—the young and the old. We will take our sons, daughters, flocks, and herds with us. We are all going into the desert to celebrate a great festival to the Eternal.
Pharaoh: 10 The Eternal had better be with you if you really think I am going to let you take your little ones with you! Look, I know you have some evil plan. I can see it in your face. 11 No! I will allow you to take only the men to go and serve the Eternal One, since that is what you have been asking for all along.
Then Pharaoh had Moses and Aaron thrown out.
Eternal One (to Moses): 12 Stretch your hand over the land of Egypt and call forth the locusts, so that they may invade Egypt and devour anything that grows from the earth and everything the hail did not destroy.
13 Then Moses raised his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Eternal directed the east wind to blow over the land all that day and night. When the morning dawned, the east wind brought with it a cloud of locusts. 14 They dropped from the sky and overran the land of Egypt from one end to the other. Countless numbers of them swarmed in the air and crawled over the ground. Never had there been nor would there ever be again such a swarm of locusts in Egypt. 15 The locusts blanketed the whole land until the ground was smothered in darkness. They devoured every plant growing in the fields and stripped every tree of its fruit, everything the hail had not destroyed. Not one green leaf was left on any tree, not one plant was left growing in the field anywhere in the land of Egypt.
16 Pharaoh immediately sent for Moses and Aaron.
Pharaoh: I have sinned against the Eternal your God and against you. 17 Now, please forgive me, just this once; and pray to the Eternal your God, and ask Him to take away this plague of death from me.
18 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Eternal for him.
19 He caused the winds to shift, and a strong west wind blew and lifted the cloud of locusts up into the air and drove them out into the Red Sea.[a] Not a single locust was left in all the land of Egypt. 20 But He hardened Pharaoh’s stubborn heart, and he refused to release the Israelites.
Eternal One (to Moses): 21 Raise your hand up toward the heavens, and a great darkness will cover the land of Egypt, a heavy, oppressive darkness.
22 So Moses raised his hand up toward the heavens, and a deep darkness settled over all the land of Egypt for three days. 23 It was so dark that people could not even see each other, and no one dared to venture out from their houses for three whole days. But all the people of Israel had light where they lived. 24 Once more Pharaoh sent for Moses.
Pharaoh: You may go and serve the Eternal. Everyone can go—even your little ones—but leave your herds and flocks behind.
Moses: 25 You must also allow us to take our herds and flocks as sacrifices and burnt offerings, for we must offer them to the Eternal our God. 26 We need to take every single animal—not a hoof can be left behind—because we need some of them to sacrifice to Him. And until we get to where we are going, we will not know what animals we need to worship the Eternal.
27 But the Eternal hardened Pharaoh’s stubborn heart once again, and he was unwilling to release the Israelites.
Pharaoh (to Moses): 28 Get out of here, and never come back! If you ever try to see my face again, I will have you killed!
Moses: 29 What you say is true. I will never see your face again!
Footnotes
- 10:19 Literally, Sea of Reeds
Exodus 10
New Living Translation
A Plague of Locusts
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Return to Pharaoh and make your demands again. I have made him and his officials stubborn[a] so I can display my miraculous signs among them. 2 I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them—and so you will know that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so they can worship me. 4 If you refuse, watch out! For tomorrow I will bring a swarm of locusts on your country. 5 They will cover the land so that you won’t be able to see the ground. They will devour what little is left of your crops after the hailstorm, including all the trees growing in the fields. 6 They will overrun your palaces and the homes of your officials and all the houses in Egypt. Never in the history of Egypt have your ancestors seen a plague like this one!” And with that, Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
7 Pharaoh’s officials now came to Pharaoh and appealed to him. “How long will you let this man hold us hostage? Let the men go to worship the Lord their God! Don’t you realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “All right,” he told them, “go and worship the Lord your God. But who exactly will be going with you?”
9 Moses replied, “We will all go—young and old, our sons and daughters, and our flocks and herds. We must all join together in celebrating a festival to the Lord.”
10 Pharaoh retorted, “The Lord will certainly need to be with you if I let you take your little ones! I can see through your evil plan. 11 Never! Only the men may go and worship the Lord, since that is what you requested.” And Pharaoh threw them out of the palace.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring on the locusts. Let them cover the land and devour every plant that survived the hailstorm.”
13 So Moses raised his staff over Egypt, and the Lord caused an east wind to blow over the land all that day and through the night. When morning arrived, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 And the locusts swarmed over the whole land of Egypt, settling in dense swarms from one end of the country to the other. It was the worst locust plague in Egyptian history, and there has never been another one like it. 15 For the locusts covered the whole country and darkened the land. They devoured every plant in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that had survived the hailstorm. Not a single leaf was left on the trees and plants throughout the land of Egypt.
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you,” he confessed. 17 “Forgive my sin, just this once, and plead with the Lord your God to take away this death from me.”
18 So Moses left Pharaoh’s court and pleaded with the Lord. 19 The Lord responded by shifting the wind, and the strong west wind blew the locusts into the Red Sea.[b] Not a single locust remained in all the land of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart again, so he refused to let the people go.
A Plague of Darkness
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be covered with a darkness so thick you can feel it.” 22 So Moses lifted his hand to the sky, and a deep darkness covered the entire land of Egypt for three days. 23 During all that time the people could not see each other, and no one moved. But there was light as usual where the people of Israel lived.
24 Finally, Pharaoh called for Moses. “Go and worship the Lord,” he said. “But leave your flocks and herds here. You may even take your little ones with you.”
25 “No,” Moses said, “you must provide us with animals for sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord our God. 26 All our livestock must go with us, too; not a hoof can be left behind. We must choose our sacrifices for the Lord our God from among these animals. And we won’t know how we are to worship the Lord until we get there.”
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart once more, and he would not let them go. 28 “Get out of here!” Pharaoh shouted at Moses. “I’m warning you. Never come back to see me again! The day you see my face, you will die!”
29 “Very well,” Moses replied. “I will never see your face again.”
Exodus 10
English Standard Version
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.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 10:10 Hebrew before your face
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