< Exodus 11 >

1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “I will cause one more disaster to strike the king of Egypt and all his people [MTY]. After that, he will let you leave. In fact, he will expel you all. 2 So now speak to all the [Israeli] people. Tell them to ask all their [Egyptian] neighbors, both men and women, to give them some silver and gold jewelry.” 3 Yahweh made the Egyptians highly respect the Israeli people. In particular, the Egyptian officials and all [the rest of] the people considered Moses/me to be a very great man. 4 Then Moses/I [went to the king and] said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight [tonight] I will go throughout Egypt, 5 and I will cause all the firstborn/oldest [sons] to die. That will include your oldest son, the oldest sons of the slave women who grind grain, [and the oldest sons of everyone else]. I will also kill the oldest males of the Egyptians’ livestock. 6 When that happens, people all over Egypt will wail loudly. They have never wailed like that before, and they will never wail like that again. 7 But among the Israeli people [it will be so quiet that] not even a dog will bark! Then you will know for sure that I, Yahweh, distinguish [how I act toward] the Egyptians and [how I act toward] the Israeli people. 8 Then all these officials of yours will come and bow down before me and will say, “Please get out [of Egypt], you and all the Israeli people!”’ After that, I will leave Egypt!” [After Moses/I said that], he/I very angrily left the king. 9 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “The king will not pay any attention to what you say. The result will be that I will perform more plagues in the land of Egypt.” 10 Aaron and Moses/I performed all these miracles in front of the king, but Yahweh made the king stubborn, and he did not let the Israeli people leave his country.

< Exodus 11 >