¹⁷ For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”^[a]

¹⁶ But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power^[a] and to spread my fame throughout the earth.

¹⁷ And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteers. ¹⁸ When my glory is displayed through them, all Egypt will see my glory and know that I am the Lord!”

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.”

²⁶ I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

¹⁴ If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

⁹ They answered, “Your servants have come from a very distant country. We have heard of the might of the Lord your God and of all he did in Egypt.