The Locusts

10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to ·the king of Egypt [^LPharaoh]. I have ·made him and his officers stubborn [^Lhardened his heart and the hearts of his officers] so I could show them ·my powerful miracles [^Lthese signs of mine]. ² I also did this so you could ·tell [^Lrecount to] your children and your grandchildren how I ·was hard on [or made sport of] the Egyptians. ·Tell [^LRecount to] them about the ·miracles [^Lsigns] I did among them so that all of you will know that I am the Lord.”

³ So Moses and Aaron went to ·the king [^LPharaoh] and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to ·be sorry for what you have done [^Lhumble yourself before me]? Let my people go to ·worship [serve] me. ⁴ If you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your ·country [land]. ⁵ They will cover the [^Lsurface of the] land so that no one will be able to see the ·ground [land]. They will eat ·anything that was [^Lthe last remains] left from the hailstorm and the leaves from every tree growing in the field. ⁶ They will fill your ·palaces [^Lhouses] and all your officers’ houses, as well as the houses of all the Egyptians. There will be more locusts than your fathers or ·ancestors [^Lthe fathers of your fathers] have ever seen—more than ·there have been since people began living in Egypt [or the day they came on the earth until now].’” Then Moses turned and walked away from ·the king [^LPharaoh].

⁷ ·The king’s [^LPharaoh’s] officers asked him, “How long will this man ·make trouble for [^Lbe a snare to] us? Let the ·Israelites [^Lmen] go to ·worship [serve] the Lord their God. Don’t you know [^Lyet] that Egypt is ·ruined [destroyed]?”

⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to ·the king [^LPharaoh]. He said to them, “Go and ·worship [serve] the Lord your God. But tell me, just who is going?”

⁹ Moses answered, “We will go with our young and old people, our sons and daughters, and our flocks and herds, because we are going to ·have a feast [celebrate a festival; or make a pilgrimage] to honor the Lord.”

¹⁰ ·The king [^LHe] said to them, “The Lord will really have to be with you if ever I let you and all of your children leave Egypt. See, you are planning something evil! ¹¹ No! Only the men may go and ·worship [serve] the Lord, which is what you have been asking for.” Then ·the king forced Moses and Aaron out of his palace [^Lhe drove them from the presence of Pharaoh].

¹² The Lord told Moses, “·Raise [Extend; Stretch] your hand over the land of Egypt, and the locusts will come. They will ·spread all [^Lgo up] over the land of Egypt and will eat all the ·plants [vegetation] the hail ·did not destroy [^Lleft behind].”

¹³ So Moses ·raised [extended; stretched] his ·walking stick [staff] over the land of Egypt, and the Lord caused a strong east wind to blow across the land all that day and night, and when morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. ¹⁴ Swarms of locusts ·covered [^Lwent up on] all the land of Egypt and ·settled [rested] ·everywhere [^Lwithin all the borders of Egypt]. There were more locusts than ever before or after, ¹⁵ and they covered the [^Lsurface of the] whole land so that it was ·black [darkened]. They ate everything that was left after the hail—·every plant [^Lall the vegetation] in the field and all the fruit on the trees. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant anywhere in Egypt.

¹⁶ ·The king [^LPharaoh] quickly called for Moses and Aaron. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now forgive my sin this time. ·Pray to [Entreat; Intercede with] the Lord your God, and ask him to ·stop [turn aside] this ·punishment that kills [deadly thing from me].”

¹⁸ Moses left ·the king [^LPharaoh] and ·prayed to [entreated; interceded with] the Lord. ¹⁹ So the Lord ·changed [turned around; diverted] the wind. He made a very strong wind blow from the west, and it ·blew [^Lcarried and drove] the locusts away into the ·Red [or Reed] Sea [^Cprobably a body of water north of the Gulf of Suez]. Not one locust was left ·anywhere in [^Lwithin the borders of] Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord ·caused the king to be stubborn again [^Lhardened the heart of Pharaoh], and he did not let the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] go.

The Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord told Moses, “·Raise [Stretch; Extend] your hand toward the ·sky [heavens], and darkness will ·cover [^Lbe over] the land of Egypt. It will be so dark ·you will be able to feel it [or you will have to grope around].” ²² Moses ·raised [stretched; extended] his hand toward the ·sky [heavens], and ·total [dense; deep] darkness was everywhere in Egypt for three days. ²³ No one could see ·anyone else [^Lhis brother], and no one could go anywhere for three days. But the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] had light where they lived.

²⁴ Again ·the king of Egypt [^LPharaoh] called for Moses. He said, “All of you may go and ·worship [serve] the Lord. You may take your ·women and children [^Lchildren] with you, but you must leave your flocks and herds here.”

²⁵ Moses said, “You must ·let us have animals to use as [^Lgive into our hands] ·sacrifices [offerings] and burnt offerings [Lev. 1], ·because we have to offer them to [^L…for] the Lord our God. ²⁶ So we must take our animals with us; not a hoof will be left behind. We have to use some of the animals to ·worship [serve] the Lord our God. We won’t know exactly what we will need to ·worship [serve] the Lord until we get there.”

²⁷ But the Lord ·made the king stubborn again [^Lhardened the heart of Pharaoh], so he ·refused [was unwilling] to let them go. ²⁸ Then ·he [^LPharaoh] told Moses, “Get ·out of here [^Laway from me], ·and don’t come again [^Lwatch out that you don’t see my face again]! ·The next time you see me, [^LOn the day you see my face,] you will die.”

²⁹ Then Moses ·told the king [^Lsaid], “I’ll do what you say. I will not ·come to see you [^Lsee your face] again.”