The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

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- Chapter 10 -

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the king again. I have made him and his officials stubborn. I have done so in order that I may have a good reason to do all these miracles among them.

I have also done so in order that you would be able to tell your children and your grandchildren how I caused the Egyptians to act very foolishly when I performed all these miracles. Then all of you will know that I am Yahweh God.”

So Aaron and Moses went to the king and said to him, “Yahweh God, the one whom we Hebrews worship, says this, ’How long will you stubbornly refuse to do what I tell you? Let my people go in order that they may worship me in the wilderness!

If you do not let them go, I warn you that tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country.

They will cover the ground so that you will not even be able to see it. They will eat everything that the ice storm did not destroy. They will eat everything that is left on the trees that is still growing.

They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and of all the rest of the Egyptians. There will be more locusts than you or your parents or your grandparents have ever seen from the time your ancestors first came to this land until now!’” Then Moses, along with Aaron, turned and left the king.

The king’s officials said to him, “How long is this man going to bring bad things upon us? Let the Israelites go in order that they may worship Yahweh, their god. Do you not yet understand that this man has ruined Egypt?”

So they brought Aaron and Moses back to the king. He said to them, “All right, you can go and worship Yahweh, your god. But who are the ones who will go?”

Moses replied, “We all need to go, everyone, including those who are young and those who are old. We need to take our sons, our daughters, and our flocks of sheep, goats, and herds of livestock because we must have a festival to honor Yahweh.”

So the king replied, “I never want Yahweh to help you, and I myself will never let you take your children and your wives with you! It is clear that you are planning not to return.

So, no, I will not let you all go. The Israelite men may go and worship Yahweh if that is what you want.” Then the king drove Moses and Aaron from his palace.

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach out your hand as though you were stretching it over the land to welcome the locusts. They will come to the country of Egypt and eat every plant that is left in the land, every plant that the ice storm did not destroy.”

So Moses held out his staff as though he were stretching it over the whole land of Egypt. Then Yahweh caused a strong wind to blow from the east, and it blew over the land all that day and all that night. By the next morning, it had brought the locusts.

The locusts swarmed all over Egypt. The swarm of locusts was larger than any that had ever been seen in Egypt, and there will never be a swarm of locusts like that again in the land.

They covered the surface of the ground and made it appear black. They ate all the plants in the land and everything on the trees that had not been destroyed by the ice storm. Nothing that was green was left on any plant or on any tree anywhere in Egypt.

The king quickly called Aaron and Moses and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh, your god, and against you two.

So now I ask you to forgive me this one time for having sinned. Please pray to Yahweh, your god, to take away this terrible disaster that will cause us all to die.”

So Moses and Aaron left the king, and Moses prayed to Yahweh.

Then Yahweh changed the wind so that it blew strongly from the west, and it blew all the locusts into the Sea of Reeds. There was not one locust left anywhere in the country of Egypt.

But Yahweh made the king stubborn again, and the king did not let the Israelite people go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

Yahweh said to Moses, “Reach your hand up toward the sky in order that there may be darkness over all the land of Egypt, a darkness so complete that people will have to feel around to know where to walk.”

So Moses reached his hand toward the sky, and it became very dark all over Egypt for three days and nights.

People could not see each other. No one left his house during that whole time. But there was light in the area where the Israelite people lived.

The king called Moses and said, “All right, you may go and worship Yahweh. Your wives and your children may go with you. But your flocks of sheep and goats and your herds of cattle must remain here.”

But Moses replied, “No, you must let us take along the sheep and goats in order that we may have some of them to sacrifice and give as burnt offerings to Yahweh, our God.

Our livestock must also go with us; we are not going to leave one animal behind. We must take them to worship Yahweh. We will not know which animals to sacrifice until we get to where we are going.”

But Yahweh made the king continue to be stubborn. The king would not let the Israelite people go.

The king said to Moses and Aaron, “Get out of here! Make sure that you never come to see me again! The day you see me again, I will have you killed!”

Moses replied, “You are correct! You will never see me again!”

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 my signs among them;

and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am the LORD.”

Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.

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

and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field.

Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh.

Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”

Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the LORD your God; but who are those who will go?”

Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds; for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”

He said to them, “The LORD be with you if I let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces.

Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve the LORD; for that is what you desire!” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.”

Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, nor will there ever be again.

For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.

Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to the LORD your God, that he may also take away from me this death.”

Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to the LORD.

The LORD sent an exceedingly strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea.(a) There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt.

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.”

Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.

They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the LORD. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you.”

Moses said, “You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.

Our livestock also shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for of it we must take to serve the LORD our God; and we don’t know with what we must serve the LORD, until we come there.”

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let them go.

Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!”

Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more.”

Footnotes

(a)10:19 “Red Sea” is the translation for the Hebrew “Yam Suf”, which could be more literally translated “Sea of Reeds” or “Sea of Cattails”. It refers to the body of water currently known as the Red Sea, or possibly to one of the bodies of water connected to it or near it.