1 Againe the Lord saide vnto Moses, Goe to Pharaoh: for I haue hardened his heart, and the heart of his seruants, that I might worke these my miracles in the middes of his realme, 2 And that thou maist declare in the eares of thy sonne, and of thy sonnes sonne, what things I haue done in Egypt, and my miracles, which I haue done among them: that ye may knowe that I am the Lord. 3 Then came Moses and Aaron vnto Pharaoh, and they said vnto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Ebrewes, Howe long wilt thou refuse to humble thy selfe before me? Let my people goe, that they may serue me. 4 But if thou refuse to let my people go, beholde, to morowe will I bring grashoppers into thy coastes. 5 And they shall couer the face of the earth, that a man can not see the earth: and they shall eate the residue which remaineth vnto you, and hath escaped from the haile: and they shall eate all your trees that bud in the fielde. 6 And they shall fil thine houses, and all thy seruants houses, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers fathers haue seene, since the time they were vpon the earth vnto this day. So he returned, and went out from Pharaoh. 7 Then Pharaohs seruants saide vnto him, How long shall he be an offence vnto vs? let the men go, that they may serue the Lord their God: wilt thou first knowe that Egypt is destroyed? 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought againe vnto Pharaoh, and he saide vnto them, Goe, serue the Lord your God, but who are they that shall goe? 9 And Moses answered, We will go with our yong and with our olde, with our sonnes and with our daughters, with our sheepe and with our cattell will we goe: for we must celebrate a feast vnto the Lord. 10 And he said vnto them, Let the Lord so be with you, as I will let you goe and your children: beholde, for euill is before your face. 11 It shall not be so: nowe goe ye that are men, and serue the Lord: for that was your desire. Then they were thrust out from Pharaohs presence. 12 After, the Lord said vnto Moses, Stretch out thine hande vpon the lande of Egypt for the grashoppers, that they may come vpon the lande of Egypt, and eate all the herbes of the land, euen all that the haile hath left. 13 Then Moses stretched foorth his rod vpon the lande of Egypt: and the Lord brought an East winde vpon the land all that day, and al that night: and in the morning the East wind brought the grashoppers. 14 So the grashoppers went vp vpon all the land of Egypt, and remained in all quarters of Egypt: so grieuous Grashoppers, like to these were neuer before, neither after them shalbe such. 15 For they couered all the face of the earth, so that the lande was darke: and they did eate all the herbes of the lande, and all the fruites of the trees, which the haile had left, so that there was no greene thing left vpon the trees, nor among the herbes of the fielde throughout all the lande of Egypt. 16 Therefore Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and sayde, I haue sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. 17 And nowe forgiue mee my sinne onely this once, and pray vnto the Lord your God, that hee may take away from me this death onely. 18 Moses then went out from Pharaoh, and prayed vnto the Lord. 19 And the Lord turned a mightie strong West winde, and tooke away the grashoppers, and violently cast them into the red Sea, so that there remained not one grashopper in all the coast of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaohs heart, and hee did not let the children of Israel goe. 21 Againe ye Lord said vnto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heauen, that there may be vpon the lande of Egypt darkenesse, euen darkenesse that may be felt. 22 Then Moses stretched forth his hande towarde heauen, and there was a blacke darkenesse in all the land of Egypt three daies. 23 No man saw an other, neither rose vp from ye place where he was for three dayes: but all the children of Israel had light where they dwelt. 24 The Pharaoh called for Moses and said, Go, serue the Lord: onely your sheepe and your cattel shall abide, and your children shall go with you. 25 And Moses sayd, Thou must giue vs also sacrifices, and burnt offrings that wee may doe sacrifice vnto the Lord our God. 26 Therefore our cattell also shall go with vs: there shall not an hoofe bee left, for thereof must we take to serue the Lord our God: neither doe wee knowe howe we shall serue the Lord, vntill we come thither. 27 (But the Lord hardened Pharaohs heart, and he would not let them goe) 28 And Pharaoh sayde vnto him, Get thee from mee: looke thou see my face no more: for whensoeuer thou commest in my sight, thou shalt dye. 29 Then Moses said, Thou hast said well: from henceforth will I see thy face no more.
Locusts
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go and see the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, in order that I may perform these miracles among them 2 and in order that you may be able to tell your children and grandchildren how I made fools of the Egyptians when I performed the miracles. All of you will know that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to the king and said to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘How much longer will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 4 If you keep on refusing, then I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. 5 There will be so many that they will completely cover the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not destroy, even the trees that are left. 6 They will fill your palaces and the houses of all your officials and all your people. They will be worse than anything your ancestors ever saw.’” Then Moses turned and left.
7 The king's officials said to him, “How long is this man going to give us trouble? Let the Israelite men go, so that they can worship the Lord their God. Don't you realize that Egypt is ruined?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to the king, and he said to them, “You may go and worship the Lord your God. But exactly who will go?”
9 Moses answered, “We will all go, including our children and our old people. We will take our sons and daughters, our sheep and goats, and our cattle, because we must hold a festival to honor the Lord.”
10 The king said, “I swear by the Lord that I will never let you take your women and children! It is clear that you are plotting to revolt. 11 No! Only the men may go and worship the Lord if that is what you want.” With that, Moses and Aaron were driven out of the king's presence.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring the locusts. They will come and eat everything that grows, everything that has survived the hail.” 13 So Moses raised his stick, and the Lord caused a wind from the east to blow on the land all that day and all that night. By morning it had brought the locusts. 14 They came in swarms and settled over the whole country. It was the largest swarm of locusts that had ever been seen or that ever would be seen again. 15 They covered the ground until it was black with them; they ate everything that the hail had left, including all the fruit on the trees. Not a green thing was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
16 Then the king hurriedly called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now forgive my sin this one time and pray to the Lord your God to take away this fatal punishment from me.” 18 Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord. 19 And the Lord changed the east wind into a very strong west wind, which picked up the locusts and blew them into the Gulf of Suez. Not one locust was left in all of Egypt. 20 But the Lord made the king stubborn, and he did not let the Israelites go.
Darkness
21 The Lord then said to Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky, and a darkness thick enough to be felt will cover the land of Egypt.” 22 Moses raised his hand toward the sky, and there was total darkness throughout Egypt for three days. 23 The Egyptians could not see each other, and no one left his house during that time. But the Israelites had light where they were living.
24 The king called Moses and said, “You may go and worship the Lord; even your women and children may go with you. But your sheep, goats, and cattle must stay here.”
25 Moses answered, “Then you would have to provide us with animals for sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to the Lord our God. 26 No, we will take our animals with us; not one will be left behind. We ourselves must select the animals with which to worship the Lord our God. And until we get there, we will not know what animals to sacrifice to him.”
27 The Lord made the king stubborn, and he would not let them go. 28 He said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Don't let me ever see you again! On the day I do, you will die!”
29 “You are right,” Moses answered. “You will never see me again.”