Exodus 10
1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Go to the king [again]. I have made him and his officials stubborn [IDM]. I have done that in order that I would [have a good reason to] perform all these plagues among them,
The Lord told Moses, “Go and see Pharaoh, because it was me who gave him and his officials a stubborn attitude so that I may perform my miracles before them.
2 and also 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, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].”
This is so you can tell your children and grandchildren how I made the Egyptians look foolish by doing these miracles among them, and so that you may know that I am the Lord.”
3 So Aaron and Moses/I went into the king’s [palace] and said to him, “Yahweh God, whom we Hebrews [worship], says this: ‘How long will you stubbornly refuse to do what I tell you [MTY]? Let my people go, in order that they may worship me [in the desert]
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long are you going to refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they can worship me.
4 If you [keep] refusing to let them go, I warn you that tomorrow I will bring (locusts/[large flying insects called] locusts) into your country.
If you refuse to let my people leave, tomorrow I will send a plague of locusts into your country.
5 [They will completely cover the ground so that] you will not even be able to see the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not [destroy]. They will eat [everything that is left on] the trees.
There will be so many of them that they'll cover the ground so no one can see it. They will eat whatever crops were left by the hail, as well as every tree growing in your fields.
6 They will fill your houses, and the houses of all your officials, and the houses 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 the present time!’” Then he/I turned and [Aaron and] I left the king.
They will swarm into your houses and into the houses of all your officials—in fact into the houses of every Egyptian. This is something that none of your forefathers ever saw from the time they arrived in this country.’” Then Moses and Aaron turned and left Pharaoh.
7 The king’s officials said to him, “(How long is this man going to continue to bring disasters on us?/We must not let this man continue to cause trouble for us!) [RHQ] Let the [Israeli] men leave, in order that they may worship Yahweh, their god. (Do you not yet understand that [this man] has ruined Egypt?/You ought to realize by now that [this man] has ruined Egypt!)” [RHQ]
Pharaoh's officials came to him and asked, “How long are you going to let this man cause us trouble? Let these people go so they can worship the Lord their God. Don't you realize that Egypt has been destroyed?”
8 So they brought Aaron and Moses/me back to the king. He said to them/us, “[All right], you can go and worship Yahweh your god. But who are the ones who will go?”
Moses and Aaron were brought back to see Pharaoh. “Go and worship the Lord your God,” he told them. “But who of you will be going?”
9 Moses/I replied, “We [all] need to go, everyone, including those who are young and those who are old. We need to take our sons and our daughters and our flocks [of sheep and goats] and herds [of livestock], because we must have a festival to [honor] Yahweh.”
“We will all go,” Moses replied. “Young and old, sons and daughters—and we'll take our flocks and herds with us, for we're going to have a religious festival for the Lord.”
10 [Moses/I really did not intend that the Israelis would ever return to Egypt, and the king knew that also. So] the king replied [sarcastically], “[If you all leave], [it will be clear that] Yahweh has helped you, but I myself will never let you [take] your children [and your wives] when you go! It is clear that you are wickedly planning [not to return].
“The Lord really would have to be with you if I let your children go with you!” Pharaoh answered. “Clearly you're planning some kind of evil trick!
11 So no, [I will not let you all go]. [The Israeli] men may go [and worship Yahweh], if that is what you want.” Then the king expelled them/us from [his palace].
So no! Only the men can go and worship the Lord, because that's what you've been asking for.” Then he had Moses and Aaron thrown out.
12 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “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 hail has not destroyed.”
The Lord told Moses, “Lift up your hand over Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and eat every plant in the country—everything that was left by the hail.”
13 So Moses/I held out his/my stick [as though he/I was 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.
Moses held out his staff over Egypt, and all through that day and night the Lord sent an east wind blowing over the land. By the time morning came the east wind had brought in the locusts.
14 The locusts swarmed all over Egypt. It was larger than any swarm of locusts that had ever [been seen], and there will never be [a swarm of locusts like that] again.
The locusts swarmed across the land and settled in every part of the country. There had never been such a swarm of locusts ever before, and there won't be ever again.
15 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 hail. Nothing that was green was left on any plant or on any tree, anywhere in Egypt.
They covered the ground until it looked black, and they ate up all the plants in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that had been left by the hail. Not a single green leaf was left on any tree or plant anywhere in Egypt.
16 The king quickly summoned Aaron and Moses/me and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh, your god, and against you [two].
Pharaoh called urgently for Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.
17 So now I ask you to forgive me this one time [for having] sinned, and pray to Yahweh your god to stop [these locusts] [MTY] [from causing everything] to die.”
So please forgive my sin just this one time and plead with the Lord your God, asking him to at least take away this deathly plague from me.”
18 They/We left the king, and Moses/I prayed to Yahweh.
Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.
19 Then Yahweh changed the wind so that it blew [strongly] from the west, and it blew all the locusts into the Red Sea (OR, the Gulf of Suez). There was not one locust left anywhere in the country of Egypt.
The Lord changed the direction of the wind so that a strong westerly wind blew the locusts into the Red Sea. There wasn't a single locust left anywhere in Egypt.
20 But Yahweh made the king stubborn [IDM] [again], and he did not let the Israeli people go.
But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites go.
21 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Reach your hand up toward the sky, in order that there will be darkness over all the land of Egypt, a darkness [so complete] that people will have to grope around [to know where to walk].”
The Lord told Moses, “Lift your hand toward the sky so that darkness will fall over Egypt, darkness so thick that it can be felt.”
22 So Moses/I reached his/my hand toward the sky, and it became totally dark all over Egypt for three days [and nights].
Moses lifted up his hand toward heaven, and the whole of Egypt went completely dark for three days.
23 People could not see each other. No one left his house during that whole time. But there was light in the area where the Israeli people were living.
No one could see anyone else, and no one moved from where they were for three days. But there was still light where all the Israelites lived.
24 The king summoned Moses/me 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.”
Eventually Pharaoh called for Moses. “Go and worship the Lord,” he said. “Just leave your flocks and herds here. You can even take your children with you.”
25 But Moses/I 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 burned offerings to Yahweh, our God.
But Moses replied, “You must also let us have animals for sacrifices and burnt offerings, so we can offer them to the Lord our God.
26 Our livestock must also go with us; we are not going to leave one of them [SYN] behind. We must take them to worship Yahweh. We will not know [which animals to sacrifice] until we get to where we are going.”
Our livestock have to go with us too—not a single animal will be left behind. We'll need some of them to worship the Lord our God, and we won't know how we are to worship the Lord until we get there.”
27 But Yahweh made the king [continue to be] stubborn [IDM], and he would not let [the Israeli] people go.
But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn, and he would not let them go.
28 The king said to me, “Get out of here! Make sure that you never come to see me [SYN] again! The day you see me again, [I will have] you executed!”
Pharaoh shouted at Moses, “Get out of here! I don't want to see you ever again! If I ever do see you again you'll die!”
29 Moses/I replied, “You are correct! You will never see me [SYN] again!”
“May it be as you say,” Moses replied. “I won't see you again.”
