Exodus 10

¹Then 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,

²and 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, that you may know that I am the Lord.

³So 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 humble yourself before me? Let my people go , that they may serve me.

⁴For if you refuse to let my people go , behold , tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country ,

⁵and they shall cover the face of the land , so that no one can see the land . And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail , and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field ,

⁶and they shall fill 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 .

⁷Then 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 ?

⁸So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh . And he said to them, Go , serve the Lord your God . But which ones are to go ?

⁹Moses 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 we must hold a feast to the Lord.

¹⁰But he said to them, The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go ! Look , you have some evil purpose in mind .

¹¹No ! 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 .

¹²Then the Lord said to Moses , Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts , so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land , all that the hail has left .

¹³So 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 .

¹⁴The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt , such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before , nor ever will be again .

¹⁵They covered the face of the whole land , so that the land was darkened , and 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 .

¹⁶Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said , I have sinned against the Lord your God , and against you.

¹⁷Now therefore, forgive my sin , please , only this once , and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.

¹⁸So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord.

¹⁹And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind , which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea . Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt .

²⁰But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart , and he did not let the people of Israel go .

²¹Then the Lord said to Moses , Stretch out your hand toward heaven , that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt , a darkness to be felt .

²²So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven , and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days .

²³They did not see one another , nor did anyone rise from his place for three days , but all the people of Israel had light where they lived .

²⁴Then Pharaoh called Moses and said , Go , serve the Lord; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind .

²⁵But Moses said , You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings , that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God .

²⁶Our 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 .

²⁷But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart , and he would not let them go .

²⁸Then 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 .

²⁹Moses said , As you say ! I will not see your face again .