The Eighth Plague: Locusts

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for ^jI have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these ^ksigns of mine among them, 2 and that ^lyou may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”

3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? ^mLet my people go, that they may serve me. 4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring ⁿlocusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat ^owhat is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, 6 and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

7 Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, ^p“Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for ^qwe must hold a feast to the Lord.” 10 But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.¹ 11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^r“Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and ^sthe Lord brought an ^teast wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. 15 They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned ^uagainst the Lord your God, and against you. 17 ^vNow therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and ^wplead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. 19 And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and ^xhe did not let the people of Israel go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be ^ydarkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and ^zthere was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, ^abut all the people of Israel had light ^bwhere they lived. 24 Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” 25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. 26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.” 27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” 29 Moses said, “As you say! ^cI will not see your face again.”

A Final Plague Threatened

1 The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one ^dplague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will ^edrive you away completely. 2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, that ^fthey ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” 3 And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

4 So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight ^gI will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, ^hfrom the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 ⁱThere shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. 7 But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a ^jdistinction between Egypt and Israel.’ 8 And ^kall these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. 9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my ^lwonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

10 Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and ^mthe Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and ⁿhe did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

The Passover

1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 ^o“This month shall be for you ^pthe beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; ^qaccording to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be ^rwithout blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and ^syou shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.²

7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; ^twith unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 ^uDo not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And ^vyou shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For ^wI will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will ^xstrike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and ^yon all ^zthe gods of Egypt ^aI will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And ^bwhen I see the blood, I will pass over you, and ^cno plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

14 “This day shall be for you a ^dmemorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be ^ecut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold ^fa holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for ^gon this very day ^hI brought your ⁱhosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days ^jno leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of ^khyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and ^lwill not allow ^mthe destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, ⁿas he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 ^oyou shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

29 ^pAt midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, ^qfrom the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And ^rthere was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 ^sThen he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, ^t“Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. 32 ^uTake your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

The Exodus

33 ^vThe Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. 35 ^wThe people of Israel had also done ^xas Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. ^yThus they plundered the Egyptians.

37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, ^zabout six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were ^athrust out of Egypt and ^bcould not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

40 The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was ^c430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It was a night of watching by the Lord, ^dto bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a ^enight of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

Institution of the Passover

43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but every slave³ that is bought for money may eat of it ^fafter you have circumcised him. 45 ^gNo foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and ^hyou shall ⁱnot break any of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let ^jall his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49 ^kThere shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”

50 All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day ^lthe Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.