Exodus 10
1 The LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs amongst them;
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,
2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done amongst them; that you may know that I am the LORD.”
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].”
3 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.
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]
4 Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,
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.
5 and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field.
[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.
6 Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh.
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.
7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”
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]
8 Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the LORD your God; but who are those who will go?”
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?”
9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds; for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”
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.”
10 He said to them, “The LORD be with you if I let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces.
[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].
11 Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve the LORD; for that is what you desire!” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
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].
12 The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.”
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.”
13 Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
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.
14 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, nor will there ever be again.
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.
15 For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
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.
16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.
The king quickly summoned Aaron and Moses/me and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh, your god, and against you [two].
17 Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to the LORD your God, that he may also take away from me this death.”
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.”
18 Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to the LORD.
They/We left the king, and Moses/I prayed to Yahweh.
19 The LORD sent an exceedingly strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt.
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.
20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go.
But Yahweh made the king stubborn [IDM] [again], and he did not let the Israeli people go.
21 The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand towards the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.”
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].”
22 Moses stretched out his hand towards the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.
So Moses/I reached his/my hand toward the sky, and it became totally dark all over Egypt for three days [and nights].
23 They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
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.
24 Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the LORD. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you.”
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.”
25 Moses said, “You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.
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.
26 Our livestock also shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for of it we must take to serve the LORD our God; and we don’t know with what we must serve the LORD, until we come there.”
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.”
27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let them go.
But Yahweh made the king [continue to be] stubborn [IDM], and he would not let [the Israeli] people go.
28 Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!”
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!”
29 Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more.”
Moses/I replied, “You are correct! You will never see me [SYN] again!”
