Exodus 10:1-20
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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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 10:1-20
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Eighth Plague: Locusts
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may do these miraculous signs of Mine among them,[a](A) 2 and so that you may tell[b] your son and grandson(B) how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am Yahweh.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may worship Me.(C) 4 But if you refuse to let My people go, then tomorrow I will bring locusts(D) into your territory. 5 They will cover the surface of the land so that no one will be able to see the land. They will eat the remainder left(E) to you that escaped the hail; they will eat every tree you have growing in the fields. 6 They will fill your houses, all your officials’ houses, and the houses of all the Egyptians—something your fathers and ancestors never saw since the time they occupied the land until today.” Then he turned and left Pharaoh’s presence.
7 Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long must this man be a snare(F) to us? Let the men go, so that they may worship Yahweh their God. Don’t you realize yet that Egypt is devastated?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship Yahweh your God,” Pharaoh said. “But exactly who will be going?”
9 Moses replied, “We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds because we must hold Yahweh’s festival.”(G)
10 He said to them, “May Yahweh be with you if I ever let you and your families go![c] Look out—you are planning evil. 11 No, only the men may go and worship Yahweh, for that is what you have been asking for.” And they were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
12 The Lord then said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt and the locusts will come up over it and eat every plant in the land, everything that the hail left.” 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord sent an east wind over the land all that day and through the night. By morning the east wind had brought in the locusts. 14 The locusts went up over the entire land of Egypt and settled on the whole territory of Egypt. Never before had there been such a large number of locusts, and there never will be again.(H) 15 They covered the surface of the whole land so that the land was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on the trees or the plants in the field throughout the land of Egypt.(I)
16 Pharaoh urgently sent for Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you. 17 Please forgive my sin once more and make an appeal to Yahweh your God, so that He will take this death away from me.” 18 Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the Lord.(J) 19 Then the Lord changed the wind to a strong west[d] wind, and it carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea.(K) Not a single locust was left in all the territory of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,(L) and he did not let the Israelites go.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 10:1 Lit Mine in his midst
- Exodus 10:2 Lit tell in the ears of
- Exodus 10:10 Pharaoh’s reply is sarcastic.
- Exodus 10:19 Lit sea
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.