Exodus 10
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 son's son how I have made sport of 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 which 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.
7And 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 who are to go?” 9And Moses 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.” 10And 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.#10.10 Heb before your face 11No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desire.” 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, 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 forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning the east wind had brought the locusts. 14And the 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 shall be again. 15For they 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 which the hail had left; not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. 17Now therefore, forgive my sin, I pray you, only this once, and entreat the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” 18So he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord. 19And the Lord turned 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 children 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 thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days; 23they did not see one another, nor did any rise from his place for three days; but all the people of Israel had light where they dwelt. 24Then Pharaoh called Moses, and said, “Go, serve the Lord; your children 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 cattle 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 heed to yourself; never see my face again; for in the day you see my face you shall die.” 29Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face again.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Exodus 10
10
Locusts
1The Lord said to Moses:
Go back to the king.#10.1 the king: See the note at 1.11. I have made him and his officials stubborn, so that I could work these miracles. 2I did this because I want you to tell your children and your grandchildren about my miracles and about my harsh treatment of the Egyptians. Then all of you will know that I am the Lord.
3Moses and Aaron went to the king and told him that the Lord God of the Hebrews had said:
How long will you stubbornly refuse to obey? Release my people so they can worship me. 4Do this by tomorrow, or I will cover your country with so many locusts#10.4 locusts: A type of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to crops. 5that you won't be able to see the ground. Most of your crops were ruined by the hailstones, but these locusts will destroy what little is left, including the trees. 6Your palace, the homes of your officials, and all the other houses in Egypt will overflow with more locusts than have ever been seen in this country.
After Moses left the palace, 7the king's officials asked, “Your Majesty, how much longer is this man going to be a troublemaker? Why don't you let the people leave, so they can worship the Lord their God? Don't you know that Egypt is a disaster?”
8The king had Moses and Aaron brought back, and he said, “All right, you may go and worship the Lord your God. But first tell me who will be going.”
9“Everyone, young and old,” Moses answered. “We will even take our sheep, goats, and cattle, because we want to hold a celebration in honor of the Lord.”
10The king replied, “The Lord had better watch over you on the day I let you leave with your families! You're up to no good. 11Do you want to worship the Lord? All right, take only the men and go.” Then Moses and Aaron were chased out of the palace.
12The Lord told Moses, “Stretch your arm toward Egypt. Swarms of locusts will come and eat everything left by the hail.”
13Moses held out his walking stick, and the Lord sent an east wind that blew across Egypt the rest of the day and all that night. By morning, locusts 14#Rev 9.2,3. were swarming everywhere. Never before had there been so many locusts in Egypt, and never again will there be so many. 15The ground was black with locusts, and they ate everything left on the trees and in the fields. Nothing green remained in Egypt—not a tree or a plant.
16At once the king sent for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17Forgive me one more time and ask the Lord to stop these insects from killing every living plant.”
18Moses left the palace and prayed. 19Then the Lord sent a strong west wind#10.19 west wind: The Hebrew text has “wind from the sea,” referring to the Mediterranean Sea (see verse 13). that swept the locusts into the Red Sea.#10.19 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Suez, since the term is extended to include the northwestern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at 13.18). Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt, 20but the Lord made the king so stubborn that he still refused to let the Israelites go.
Darkness
21 #
Ws 17.1-21. The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch your arm toward the sky, and everything will be covered with darkness thick enough to touch.” 22#Ps 105.28; Rev 16.10. Moses stretched his arm toward the sky, and Egypt was covered with darkness for three days. 23During that time, the Egyptians could not see each other or leave their homes, but there was light where the Israelites lived.
24The king#10.24 The king: See the note at 1.11. sent for Moses and told him, “Go worship the Lord! And take your families with you. Just leave your sheep, goats, and cattle.”
25“No!” Moses replied. “You must let us offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, 26and we won't know which animals we will need until we get there. That's why we can't leave even one of them here.”
27This time the Lord made the king so stubborn 28that he said to Moses, “Get out and stay out! If you ever come back, you're dead!”
29“Have it your way,” Moses answered. “You won't see me again.”
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
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