Exodus 10:1–12:51
10 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; afor I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, bthat I may show these signs of Mine before him, 2 and that cyou may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may dknow that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to ehumble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may fserve Me. 4 Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring glocusts into your territory. 5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and hthey shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. 6 They shall ifill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’ ” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
7 Then Pharaoh’s jservants said to him, “How long shall this man be ka snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. Who are the ones that are going?”
9 And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for lwe must hold a feast to the Lord.”
10 Then he said to them, “The Lord had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. 11 Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven mout from Pharaoh’s presence.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, n“Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and oeat every herb of the land—all that the hail has left.” 13 So 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 that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14 And pthe locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; qpreviously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. 15 For they rcovered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they sate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh called tfor Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, u“I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and ventreat 1the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only.” 18 So he wwent out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. 19 And the Lord turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them xinto the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt. 20 But the Lord yhardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, z“Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, 2darkness which may even be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was athick darkness in all the land of Egypt bthree days. 23 They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. cBut all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and dsaid, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your elittle ones also go with you.”
25 But Moses said, “You must also give 3us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. 26 Our flivestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.”
27 But the Lord ghardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, h“Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!”
29 So Moses said, “You have spoken well. iI will never see your face again.”
Death of the Firstborn Announced
11 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. aAfterward he will let you go from here. bWhen he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. 2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, carticles of silver and articles of gold.” 3 dAnd the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man eMoses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.
4 Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: f‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; 5 and gall the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. 6 hThen there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, isuch as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. 7 jBut against none of the children of Israel kshall a dog 1move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’ 8 And lall these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” mThen he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.
9 But the Lord said to Moses, n“Pharaoh will not heed you, so that oMy wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; pand the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 a“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the btenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be cwithout 1blemish, a male 2of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the dfourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that enight; froasted in fire, with gunleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but hroasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 iYou shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: 3with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. jIt is the Lord’s Passover.
12 ‘For I kwill pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and lagainst all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: mI am the Lord. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 ‘So this day shall be to you na memorial; and you shall keep it as a ofeast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast pby an everlasting ordinance. 15 qSeven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, rthat 4person shall be 5cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day there shall be sa holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for ton this same day I will have brought your 6armies uout of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. 18 vIn the first month, on 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 wseven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”
21 Then xMoses called for all the yelders of Israel and said to them, z“Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 aAnd you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and bstrike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23 cFor the Lord …