Exodus 10
Amplified Bible
The Plague of Locusts
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants [making them determined and unresponsive], so that I may exhibit My signs [of divine power] [a]among them, 2 and that you may recount and explain in the hearing of your son, and your grandson, what I have done [repeatedly] to make a mockery of the Egyptians—My signs [of divine power] which I have done among them—so that you may know [without any doubt] and recognize [clearly] that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. 4 For if you refuse to let My people go, then hear this: tomorrow I will bring [migratory] locusts into your country. 5 They shall cover the [visible] surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the ground, and they will eat the rest of what has remained—that is, the vegetation left after the hail—and they will eat every one of your trees that grows in the field; 6 your houses and those of all your servants and of all the Egyptians shall be filled with locusts, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from their birth until this day.’” Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh. 7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a trap to us? Let the men go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not realize that Egypt is destroyed?” 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God! Who specifically are the ones that are going?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds [all of us and all that we have], for we must hold a feast to the Lord.” 10 Pharaoh said to them, “The Lord be with you [to help you], if I ever let you go with your children [because you will never return]! Look [be forewarned], [b]you have an [c]evil plan in mind. 11 No! Go now, you who are men, [without your families] and serve the Lord, if that is what you want.” So Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up on the land of Egypt and eat all the plants of 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 on the land all that day and all that night; when it was morning, the east wind had brought the [swarms of] locusts. 14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in the whole territory, a very dreadful mass of them; never before were there such locusts as these, nor will there ever be again. 15 For they covered the [visible] surface of the land, so that the ground was darkened; and they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained not a green thing on the trees or the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh hurried to call for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once [more], and pray and entreat the Lord your God, so that He will remove this [plague of] death from me.” 18 Moses left Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. 19 So the Lord shifted the wind to a violent west wind which lifted up the locusts and drove them into the [d]Red Sea; not one locust remained within the border of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart [so that it was even more resolved and obstinate], and he did not let the Israelites go.
Darkness over the Land
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that [e]darkness may come over the land of Egypt, a darkness which [is so awful that it] may be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and for three days a thick darkness was all over the land of Egypt [no sun, no moon, no stars]. 23 The Egyptians could not see one another, nor did anyone leave his place for three days, but all the Israelites had [supernatural] light in their dwellings. 24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only your flocks and your herds must be left behind. Even your children may go with you.” 25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may sacrifice them to the Lord our God. 26 Therefore, our livestock must also go with us; not one hoof shall be left behind, for we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God. Even we do not know with what we will serve the Lord until we arrive there.” 27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get away from me! See that you never enter my presence again, for on the day that you see my face again you will die!” 29 Then Moses said, “You are correct; I will never see your face again!”
Footnotes
- Exodus 10:1 Lit in his midst.
- Exodus 10:10 Lit for evil is in front of your faces.
- Exodus 10:10 Pharaoh was suspicious that Moses intended to lead Israel away from Egypt for good. He knew that as long as their children remained in Egypt, the Israelites would not attempt an escape to freedom.
- Exodus 10:19 Lit Sea of Reeds (Hebrew) yam suph. The traditional name “Red Sea” comes from the Greek, which is based on the designation of the fifth-century b.c. Greek historian Herodotus. The famous historian, who was called the father of history, considered the sea part of the Indian Ocean, which he called the Red Sea. Later the term came to refer to the sea itself. The name “Red Sea” is used throughout the O.T. instead of “Sea of Reeds.”
- Exodus 10:21 One of the primary gods of the Egyptians was Ra the sun-god. The darkness revealed his uselessness and prevented the daily rituals of pagan worship.
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
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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.