Exodus 10–12

Chapter 10

And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharao; for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants: that I may work these my signs in him,

²And thou mayst tell in the ears of thy sons, and of thy grandsons, how often I have plagued the Egyptians, and wrought my signs amongst them: and you may know that I am the Lord.

³Therefore Moses and Aaron went in to Pharao, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: How long refusest thou to submit to me? let my people go, to sacrifice to me.

⁴But if thou resist, and wilt not let them go, behold I will bring in to-morrow the locusts into thy coasts;

⁵To cover the face of the earth, that nothing thereof may appear, but that which the hail hath left may be eaten: for they shall feed upon all the trees that spring in the fields.

⁶And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of thy servants, and of all the Egyptians: such a number as thy fathers have not seen, nor thy grandfathers, from the time they were first upon the earth, until this present day. And he turned himself away, and went forth from Pharao.

⁷And Pharao’s servants said to him: How long shall we endure this scandal? let the men go to sacrifice to the Lord their God. Dost thou not see that Egypt is undone?

⁸And they called back Moses, and Aaron, to Pharao; and he said to them: Go, sacrifice to the Lord your God: who are they that shall go?

⁹Moses said: We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, with our sheep and herds: for it is the solemnity of the Lord our God.

¹⁰And Pharao answered: So be the Lord with you, as I shall let you and your children go: who can doubt but that you intend some great evil?

¹¹It shall not be so. but go ye men only, and sacrifice to the Lord: for this yourselves also desired. And immediately they were cast out from Pharao’s presence.

¹²And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand upon the land of Egypt unto the locust, that it come upon it, and devour every herb that is left after the hail.

¹³And Moses stretched forth his rod upon the land of Egypt: and the Lord brought a burning wind all that day, and night; and when it was morning, the burning wind raised the locusts.

¹⁴And they came up over the whole land of Egypt; and rested in all the coasts of the Egyptians, innumerable, the like as had not been before that time, nor shall be hereafter.

¹⁵And they covered the whole face of the earth, wasting all things. And the grass of the earth was devoured, and what fruits soever were on the trees, which the hail had left; and there remained not any thing that was green on the trees, or in the herbs of the earth, in all Egypt.

¹⁶Wherefore Pharao in haste called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.

¹⁷But now forgive me my sin this time also, and pray to the Lord your God, that he take away from me this death.

¹⁸And Moses going forth from the presence of Pharao, prayed to the Lord:

¹⁹And he made a very strong wind to blow from the west, and it took the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea: there remained not so much as one in all the coasts of Egypt.

²⁰And the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, neither did he let the children of Israel go.

²¹And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out thy hand towards heaven: and may there be darkness upon the land of Egypt so thick that it may be felt.

²²And Moses stretched forth his hand towards heaven: and there came horrible darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.

²³No man saw his brother, nor moved himself out of the place where he was: but wheresoever the children of Israel dwelt, there was light.

²⁴And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: Go, sacrifice to the Lord: let your sheep only, and herds remain, let your children go with you.

²⁵Moses said: Thou shalt give us also sacrifices and burnt-offerings, to the Lord our God.

²⁶All the flocks shall go with us; there shall not a hoof remain of them: for they are necessary for the service of the Lord our God: especially as we know not what must be offered, till we come to the very place.

²⁷And the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, and he would not let them go.

²⁸And Pharao said to Moses: Get thee from me, and beware thou see not my face any more: in what day soever thou shalt come in my sight, thou shalt die.

²⁹Moses answered: So shall it be as thou hast spoken, I will not see thy face any more.

Chapter 11

And the Lord said to Moses: Yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharao and Egypt, and after that he shall let you go, and thrust you out.

²Therefore thou shalt tell all the people, that every man ask of his friend, and every woman of her neighbour, vessels of silver and of gold.

³And the Lord will give favour to his people in the sight of the Egyptians. And Moses was a very great man in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharao’s servants, and of all the people.

⁴And he said: Thus saith the Lord: At midnight I will enter into Egypt:

⁵And every firstborn in the land of the Egyptians shall die, from the firstborn of Pharao who sitteth on his throne, even to the firstborn of the handmaid that is at the mill, and all the firstborn of beasts.

⁶And there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as neither hath been before, nor shall be hereafter.

⁷But with all the children of Israel there shall not a dog make the least noise, from man even to beast; that you may know how wonderful a difference the Lord maketh between the Egyptians and Israel.

⁸And all these thy servants shall come down to me, and shall worship me, saying: Go forth thou, and all the people that is under thee: after that we will go out.

⁹And he went out from Pharao exceeding angry. But the Lord said to Moses: Pharao will not hear you, that many signs may be done in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰And Moses and Aaron did all the wonders that are written, before Pharao. And the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, neither did he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

Chapter 12

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

²This month shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be the first in the months of the year.

³Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say to them: On the tenth day of this month let every man take a lamb by their families and houses.

⁴But if the number be less than may suffice to eat the lamb, he shall take unto him his neighbour that joineth to his house, according to the number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb.

⁵And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year; according to which rite also you shall take a kid.

⁶And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole multitude of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it in the evening.

⁷And they shall take of the blood thereof, and put it upon both the side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

⁸And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire, and unleavened bread with wild lettuce.

⁹You shall not eat thereof any thing raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted at the fire; you shall eat the head with the feet and entrails thereof.

¹⁰Neither shall there remain any thing of it until morning. If there be any thing left, you shall burn it with fire.

¹¹And thus you shall eat it: you shall gird your reins, and you shall have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall eat in haste; for it is the Phase (that is the Passage) of the Lord.

¹²And I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and will kill every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast: and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am the Lord.

¹³And the blood shall be unto you for a sign in the houses where you shall be; and I shall see the blood, and shall pass over you; and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I shall strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴And this day shall be for a memorial to you; and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord in your generations, with an everlasting observance.

¹⁵Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread: in the first day there shall be no leaven in your houses; whosoever shall eat any thing leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall perish out of Israel.

¹⁶The first day shall be holy and solemn, and the seventh day shall be kept with the like solemnity: you shall do no work in them, except those things that belong to eating.

¹⁷And you shall observe the feast of the unleavened bread: for in this same day I will bring forth your army out of the land of Egypt, and you shall keep this day in your generations by a perpetual observance.

¹⁸The first month, the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the same month, in the evening.

¹⁹Seven days there shall not be found any leaven in your houses: he that shall eat leavened bread, his soul shall perish out of the assembly of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land.

²⁰You shall not eat any thing leavened: in all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.

²¹And Moses called all the ancients of the children of Israel, and said to them: Go take a lamb by your families, and sacrifice the Phase.

²²And dip a bunch of hyssop in the blood that is at the door, and sprinkle the transom of the door therewith, and both the door cheeks: let none of you go out of the door of his house till morning.

²³For the Lord will pass through striking the Egyptians: and when he shall see the blood on the transom, and on both the posts, he will pass over the door of the house, and not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses and to hurt you.

²⁴Thou shalt keep this thing as a law for thee and thy children for ever.

²⁵And when you have entered into the land which the Lord will give you, as he hath promised, you shall observe these ceremonies.

²⁶And when your children shall say to…