Exodus 10

1Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart and the hearts of his officials stubborn, so that I may perform these signs of mine among them,

2and so that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and about the signs I performed among them, and so that you may know that I am Yahweh.”

3So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

4If you refuse to let my people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow.

5They will cover the face of the land so that no one can see the ground. They will eat whatever little you have left after the hail, and they will eat every tree that is growing in your fields.

6They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and of all the Egyptians—something neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have ever seen from the day they first lived on the earth until this day.” Then he turned and left Pharaoh.

7Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a trap for us? Let the men go, so that they may worship Yahweh their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?”

8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, worship Yahweh your God. But who exactly will be going?”

9Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds, for we must hold a festival for Yahweh.”

10Pharaoh said to them, “Yahweh be with you, then, if I ever let you go with your little ones! Look, you clearly have evil in mind.

11No! Let the men go and worship Yahweh, since that is what you are asking for.” And they were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence.

12Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they come up over the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, everything the hail has left.”

13So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh drove an east wind over the land all that day and all that night. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.

14The locusts came up over the whole land of Egypt and settled on every part of Egypt in great numbers. Never before had there been such a swarm of locusts, and never again will there be.

15They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened. They ate every plant in the land and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on tree or plant in the fields throughout the land of Egypt.

16Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you.

17Now please forgive my sin just this once, and pray to Yahweh your God to take this death away from me.”

18So Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to Yahweh.

19Yahweh changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which picked up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left anywhere in Egypt.

20But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the Israelites go.

21Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that darkness spreads over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.”

22So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was deep darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days.

23People could not see one another, and for three days no one moved from where they were. But all the Israelites had light where they lived.

24Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship Yahweh. Only your flocks and your herds must stay behind. Even your little ones may go with you.”

25But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to Yahweh our God.

26Our livestock must go with us too; not a hoof is to be left behind. For we must take some of them to worship Yahweh our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship Yahweh.”

27But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.

28Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Make sure you never see my face again, for the day you see my face you will die.”

29Moses said, “As you say. I will never see your face again.”