The Eighth Plague: Locusts 1 UST 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 UST 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 among them. Then all of you will know that I am Yahweh.” 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 UST So Moses and Aaron 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 bow to me? 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 UST 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 UST They will completely 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 growing on your fruit trees. 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 UST They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and of all the rest of the Egyptians. There will be more locusts than your parents or your grandparents have ever seen from the time your ancestors first came to this land until now!’” Then Moses{ and 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 UST The king’ s officials said to him,“This is another trap for us! Let the Israelites go in order that they may worship Yahweh, their god. You must know that our country is already ruined.” 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 UST { The king ordered someone} to bring Moses and Aaron back to him. He said to them,“Go worship Yahweh, your god. But 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 UST 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 and goats and herds of livestock because a celebration to honor Yahweh is for all of us.” 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 UST The king replied,“I am not about to let you go with your women and children because I do not think Yahweh is about to help you. Watch out so that something bad does not happen 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 UST Since you keep asking, go worship Yahweh with just your men. But no one else may go!” Then the king drove Moses and Aaron away. 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 UST Then Yahweh said to Moses,“Stretch out your hand over Egypt and locusts will come up and cover the country. They will eat every green thing in the whole country, anything that the hail left behind.” 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 UST So Moses held out his staff as though he were stretching it over the country of Egypt. Then Yahweh caused a 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 UST The locusts came up all over Egypt. They landed everywhere in the whole country. There had never been anything like this huge number of locusts, and there will never be anything like it again. 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 UST 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 the ice storm had not destroyed. They left nothing that was green on any tree or on any plant 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 UST The king quickly called Aaron and Moses and said,“I have sinned against Yahweh, 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 UST Can you forgive me right now for having sinned this one time? Please pray to Yahweh, your god. Just ask him to take away the locusts 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 UST 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 UST Then Yahweh changed the wind so that it blew strongly from the west, and it picked up and forced all the locusts into the Sea of Reeds. There were no locusts 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 UST But Yahweh made the king stubborn again, and the king did not let the Israelites go. BSB BSB: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
The Ninth Plague: Darkness 21 UST Yahweh said to Moses,“Reach your hand up toward the sky so that it may be dark over all the land of Egypt, so dark that it will seem like people can feel it.” 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 UST So Moses reached his hand toward the sky, and it became extremely 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 UST No one could see anyone else. No one went anywhere for three days. But there was light in the area where the Israelites 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 UST The king called Moses and said,“{ All right,} you may go and worship Yahweh. Your women 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 UST But Moses replied,“No, you must also let us take our sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer 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 UST Our domesticated animals must also go with us. We are not going to leave one animal behind because we must take them to worship Yahweh, the God we worship. We will not know what we will need for worshiping Yahweh 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 UST But Yahweh made the king continue to be stubborn. The king would not allow the Israelites to go. BSB BSB: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.
28 UST 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 someone kill you!” 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 UST Moses replied,“You are correct! I will never see you again!” BSB BSB: “As you say,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.”