Exodus 10

¹ Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh, for I have made him and his officials stubborn, to displaythese signs of mine among them;

² so that you can tel your sons and your grandsons how I made fools of the Egyptians and what signs Iperformed among them, so that you would know that I am Yahweh.'

³ Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh and said to him, 'Yahweh, God of the Hebrews, says this,"How much longer wil you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go and worship me.

⁴ Or, if you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I shall send locusts into your country.

⁵ They wil cover the surface of the soil so that the soil cannot be seen. They wil devour the remainderof what has escaped, of what you have been left after the hail; they wil devour al your trees growing in thefields;

⁶ they will fil your houses, al your officials' houses and al the Egyptians' houses -- something yourancestors and your ancestors' ancestors have never seen from the day they first appeared on earth until now." 'Then he turned on his heel and left Pharaoh's presence.

⁷ At which, Pharaoh's officials said to him, 'How much longer are we to be tricked by this fellow? Let thepeople go and worship Yahweh their God. Do you not final y realise that Egypt is on the brink of ruin?'

⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh who said to them, 'Go and worship Yahweh yourGod. But who are to go?'

⁹ Moses replied, 'We shal take our young men and our old men, we shall take our sons and daughters,our flocks and our herds, since we are going to hold a feast in Yahweh's honour.'

¹⁰ Pharaoh said, 'So I must let you go with your wives and children! May Yahweh preserve you! Plainly,you are up to no good!

¹¹ Oh no! You men may go and worship Yahweh, since that was your original request.' With that, theywere driven from Pharaoh's presence.

¹² Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over Egypt for the locusts. Let them invade Egyptand devour whatever is growing in the country, whatever the hail has left!'

¹³ Moses stretched his staff over Egypt, and over the country Yahweh sent an east wind which blew althat day and night. By morning, the east wind had brought the locusts.

¹⁴ The locusts invaded the whole of Egypt and settled al over Egypt, in great swarms; never had therebeen so many locusts before, nor would there be again.

¹⁵ They covered the surface of the ground till the land was devastated. They devoured whatever wasgrowing in the fields and al the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. No green was left on tree or plant in thefields anywhere in Egypt.

¹⁶ Pharaoh sent urgently for Moses and Aaron and said, 'I have sinned against Yahweh your God andagainst you.

¹⁷ Now forgive my sin, I implore you, just this once, and entreat Yahweh your God to turn this deadlything away from me.'

¹⁸ When Moses left Pharaoh's presence he prayed to Yahweh,

¹⁹ and Yahweh changed the wind into a west wind, very strong, which carried the locusts away andswept them into the Sea of Reeds. There was not one locust left in the whole of Egypt.

²⁰ But Yahweh made Pharaoh stubborn, and he did not let the Israelites go.

²¹ Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand towards heaven, and let darkness, darkness sothick that it can be felt, cover Egypt.'

²² So Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and for three days there was thick darkness overthe whole of Egypt.

²³ No one could see anyone else or move about for three days, but al the Israelites did have lightwhere they were living.

²⁴ Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, 'Go and worship Yahweh, but your flocks and herds are to stayhere. Your wives and children can go with you too.'

²⁵ Moses said, 'But now you must give us sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to Yahweh our God.

²⁶ And our livestock will go with us too; not a hoof wil be left behind; for we may need animals fromthese to worship Yahweh our God; for until we get there we ourselves cannot tell how we are to worshipYahweh.'

²⁷ But Yahweh made Pharaoh stubborn, and he refused to let them go.

²⁸ Pharaoh said to Moses, 'Out of my sight! Be sure you never see my face again, for the next time yousee my face you die!'

²⁹ Moses then said, 'You yourself have said it. I shal never see your face again.'