The Eighth Plague: Locusts 1 UDB Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to the king again. I have made him and his officials stubborn. I have done so in order that I may have a good reason to do all these miracles among them. 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 UDB I have also done so in order that you would be able to tell your children and your grandchildren how I caused the Egyptians to act very foolishly when I performed all these miracles. Then all of you will know that I am Yahweh God." 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 UDB So Aaron and Moses went to the king and said to him, "Yahweh God, the one whom we Hebrews worship, says this, 'How long will you stubbornly refuse to do what I tell you? Let my people go in order that they may worship me in the wilderness! 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 UDB If you do not let them go, I warn you that tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. BSB BSB: But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow.
5 UDB They will cover the ground so that you will not even be able to see it. They will eat everything that the ice storm did not destroy. They will eat everything that is left on the trees that is still growing. 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 UDB They will fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the rest of the Egyptians. There will be more locusts than you or your parents or your grandparents have ever seen from the time your ancestors first came to this land until now!'" Then Moses, along with Aaron, turned and left the king. 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 UDB The king's officials said to him, "How long is this man going to bring bad things upon us? Let the Israelites go in order that they may worship Yahweh, their god. Do you not yet understand that this man has ruined Egypt?" 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 UDB So they brought Aaron and Moses back to the king. He said to them, "All right, you can go and worship Yahweh, your god. But who are the ones who will go?" 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 UDB Moses replied, "We all need to go, everyone, including those who are young and those who are old. We need to take our sons, our daughters, and our flocks of sheep, goats, and herds of livestock because we must have a festival to honor Yahweh." 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 UDB So the king replied, "I never want Yahweh to help you, and I myself will never let you take your children and your wives with you! It is clear that you are planning not to return. 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 UDB So, no, I will not let you all go. The Israelite men may go and worship Yahweh if that is what you want." Then the king drove Moses and Aaron from his palace. 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 UDB Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach out your hand as though you were stretching it over the land to welcome the locusts. They will come to the country of Egypt and eat every plant that is left in the land, every plant that the ice storm did not destroy." 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 UDB So Moses held out his staff as though he were stretching it over the whole land of Egypt. Then Yahweh caused a strong wind to blow from the east, and it blew over the land all that day and all that night. By the next morning, it had brought 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 UDB The locusts swarmed all over Egypt. The swarm of locusts was larger than any that had ever been seen in Egypt, and there will never be a swarm of locusts like that again in the land. 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 UDB They covered the surface of the ground and made it appear black. They ate all the plants in the land and everything on the trees that had not been destroyed by the ice storm. Nothing that was green was left on any plant or on any tree anywhere in 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 UDB The king quickly called Aaron and Moses and said, "I have sinned against Yahweh, your god, and against you two. BSB BSB: Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
17 UDB So now I ask you to forgive me this one time for having sinned. Please pray to Yahweh, your god, to take away this terrible disaster that will cause us all to die." 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 UDB So Moses and Aaron left the king, and Moses prayed to Yahweh. BSB BSB: So Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the LORD.
19 UDB Then Yahweh changed the wind so that it blew strongly from the west, and it blew all the locusts into the Sea of Reeds. There was not one locust left anywhere in the country 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 UDB But Yahweh made the king stubborn again, and the king did not let the Israelite people go. BSB BSB: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
The Ninth Plague: Darkness 21 UDB Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach your hand up toward the sky in order that there may be darkness over all the land of Egypt, a darkness so complete that people will have to feel around to know where to walk." 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 UDB So Moses reached his hand toward the sky, and it became very dark all over Egypt for three days and nights. BSB BSB: So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days.
23 UDB People could not see each other. No one left his house during that whole time. But there was light in the area where the Israelite people lived. 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 UDB The king called Moses and said, "All right, you may go and worship Yahweh. Your wives and your children may go with you. But your flocks of sheep and goats and your herds of cattle must remain here." 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 UDB But Moses replied, "No, you must let us take along the sheep and goats in order that we may have some of them to sacrifice and give as burnt offerings to Yahweh, 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 UDB Our livestock must also go with us; we are not going to leave one animal behind. We must take them to worship Yahweh. We will not know which animals to sacrifice until we get to where we are going." 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 UDB But Yahweh made the king continue to be stubborn. The king would not let the Israelite people go. BSB BSB: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.
28 UDB The king said to Moses and Aaron, "Get out of here! Make sure that you never come to see me again! The day you see me again, I will have you killed!" 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 UDB Moses replied, "You are correct! You will never see me again!" BSB BSB: “As you say,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.”