The Eighth Plague: Locusts 1 Brenton And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Go in to Pharao: for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that these signs may come upon them; in order BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials, that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine among them,
2 Brenton that ye may relate in the ears of your children, and to your children's children, in how many things I have mocked the Egyptians, and my wonders which I wrought among them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. BSB BSB: and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how severely I dealt with the Egyptians when I performed miraculous signs among them, so that all of you may know that I am the LORD.”
3 Brenton And Moses and Aaron went in before Pharao, and they said to him, These things saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long dost thou refuse to reverence me? Send my people away, that they may serve me. BSB BSB: So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.
4 Brenton But if thou wilt not send my people away, behold, at this hour to-morrow I will bring an abundance of locusts upon all thy coasts. BSB BSB: But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow.
5 Brenton And they shall cover the face of the earth, and thou shalt not be able to see the earth; and they shall devour all that is left of the abundance of the earth, which the hail has left you, and shall devour every tree that grows for you on the land. BSB BSB: They will cover the face of the land so that no one can see it. They will devour whatever is left after the hail and eat every tree that grows in your fields.
6 Brenton And thy houses shall be filled, and the houses of thy servants, and all the houses in all the land of the Egyptians; things which thy fathers have never seen, nor their forefathers, from the day that they were upon the earth until this day. And Moses turned away and departed from Pharao. BSB BSB: They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and every Egyptian—something neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since the day they came into this land.’” Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh’s presence.
7 Brenton And the servants of Pharao say to him, How long shall this be a snare to us? send away the men, that they may serve their God; wilt thou know that Egypt is destroyed? BSB BSB: Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”
8 Brenton And they brought back both Moses and Aaron to Pharao; and he said to them, Go and serve the Lord your God; but who are they that are going with you? BSB BSB: So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the LORD your God,” he said. “But who exactly will be going?”
9 Brenton And Moses said, We will go with the young and the old, with our sons, and daughters, and sheep, and oxen, for it is a feast of the Lord. BSB BSB: “We will go with our young and old,” Moses replied. “We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”
10 Brenton And he said to them, So let the Lord be with you: as I will send you away, must I send away your store also? see that evil is attached to you. BSB BSB: Then Pharaoh told them, “May the LORD be with you if I ever let you go with your little ones. Clearly you are bent on evil.
11 Brenton Not so, but let the men go and serve God, for this ye yourselves seek; and they cast them out from the presence of Pharao. BSB BSB: No, only the men may go and worship the LORD, since that is what you have been requesting.” And Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
12 Brenton And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt, and let the locust come up on the land, and it shall devour every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees, which the hail left. BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and devour every plant in the land—everything that the hail has left behind.”
13 Brenton And Moses lifted up his rod towards heaven, and the Lord brought a south wind upon the earth, all that day and all that night: the morning dawned, and the south wind brought up the locusts, BSB BSB: So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the LORD sent an east wind across the land. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.
14 Brenton and brought them up over all the land of Egypt. And they rested in very great abundance over all the borders of Egypt. Before them there were not such locusts, neither after them shall there be. BSB BSB: The locusts swarmed across the land and settled over the entire territory of Egypt. Never before had there been so many locusts, and never again will there be.
15 Brenton And they covered the face of the earth, and the land was wasted, and they devoured all the herbage of the land, and all the fruit of the trees, which was left by the hail: there was no green thing left on the trees, nor on all the herbage of the field, in all the land of Egypt. BSB BSB: They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
16 Brenton And Pharao hasted to call Moses and Aaron, saying, I have sinned before the Lord your God, and against you; BSB BSB: Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
17 Brenton pardon therefore my sin yet this time, and pray to the Lord your God, and let him take away from me this death. BSB BSB: Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”
18 Brenton And Moses went forth from Pharao, and prayed to God. BSB BSB: So Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the LORD.
19 Brenton And the Lord brought in the opposite direction a strong wind from the sea, and took up the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea, and there was not one locust left in all the land of Egypt. BSB BSB: And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind that carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained anywhere in Egypt.
20 Brenton And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharao, and he did not send away the children of Israel. BSB BSB: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
The Ninth Plague: Darkness 21 Brenton And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand to heaven, and let there be darkness over the land of Egypt—darkness that may be felt. BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”
22 Brenton And Moses stretched out his hand to heaven, and there was darkness very black, even a storm over all the land of Egypt three days. BSB BSB: So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days.
23 Brenton And for three days no man saw his brother, and no man rose up from his bed for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in all the places where they were. BSB BSB: No one could see anyone else, and for three days no one left his place. Yet all the Israelites had light in their dwellings.
24 Brenton And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, saying, Go, serve the Lord your God, only leave your sheep and your oxen, and let your store depart with you. BSB BSB: Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the LORD. Even your little ones may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”
25 Brenton And Moses said, Nay, but thou shalt give to us whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices, which we will sacrifice to the Lord our God. BSB BSB: But Moses replied, “You must also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD our God.
26 Brenton And our cattle shall go with us, and we will not leave a hoof behind, for of them we will take to serve the Lord our God: but we know not in what manner we shall serve the Lord our God, until we arrive there. BSB BSB: Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we will need some of them to worship the LORD our God, and we will not know how we are to worship the LORD until we arrive.”
27 Brenton But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharao, and he would not let them go. BSB BSB: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.
28 Brenton And Pharao says, Depart from me, beware of seeing my face again, for in what day thou shalt appear before me, thou shalt die. BSB BSB: “Depart from me!” Pharaoh said to Moses. “Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”
29 Brenton And Moses says, Thou hast said, I will not appear in thy presence again. BSB BSB: “As you say,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.”