Exodus 10:3–25:29
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 uhumble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring vlocusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall weat what 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 xyour 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, y“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 zwe 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 alittle 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, b“Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and ceat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 dThe locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, esuch 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 fthey 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, g“I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. 17 Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and hplead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” 18 So ihe 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 jinto the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord khardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, l“Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be mdarkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there 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, but nall the people of Israel had light where they lived. 24 Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, o“Go, serve the Lord; pyour 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 qhardened 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! rI will not see your face again.”
11 The Lord said to Moses, “Yet sone plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. tWhen he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. 2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, that uthey ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” 3 vAnd 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: w‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is xbehind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 yThere 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 zagainst any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord amakes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ 8 And ball 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, c“Pharaoh will not listen to you, that dmy wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
10 Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord ehardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 f“This month shall be for you the 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 gaccording 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; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be hwithout blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the ifourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.1
7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the jtwo doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with kunleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but lroasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And myou 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 nyour belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. oIt is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For pI will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on qall the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: rI am the Lord. 13 sThe 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 no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 “This day shall be tfor you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a ustatute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 vSeven 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, wthat person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a xholy 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 yon this very day I brought your zhosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 aIn 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 bFor seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, bthat person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, cwhether 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 daccording to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of ehyssop and fdip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch gthe lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. hNone of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 iFor the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on gthe lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and jwill not allow the 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, kas he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And lwhen your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, m‘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 nbowed their heads and worshiped.