﻿Exodus.
Chapter 10.
The LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, so that I may perform these signs of mine among them, 
and so that you may tell, in the hearing of your son and your grandson, how I made a mockery of Egypt and what signs I performed among them. And you will all know that I am the LORD.” 
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to 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 serve me. 
For if you refuse to let my people go, look, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. 
They will cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They will eat what escaped, what remains for you after the hail, and they will eat every tree growing for you in the field. 
They will fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—something neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, from the day they first lived on the earth until this day.’” Then he turned and left Pharaoh’s presence. 
Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this be a snare to us? Let the men go, so that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is ruined?” 
So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go and serve the LORD your God. Who exactly is going?” 
Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.” 
Pharaoh said to them, “May the LORD be with you if I ever let you and your little ones go! Look, evil is before you! 
No! You men may go and serve the LORD, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence. 
The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt so that locusts may come up over the land of Egypt and eat all the vegetation of the land, everything the hail has left.” 
Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD drove an east wind over the land all that day and all that night. When morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. 
The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled throughout all the territory of Egypt in very great numbers. There had never been such locusts before, nor will there ever be any like them again. 
They covered the surface of the whole land, and the land grew dark. They ate all the vegetation of the land and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or in the vegetation of the field throughout all the land of Egypt. 
Pharaoh hurried to call Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. 
Now please forgive my sin just this once, and plead with the LORD your God to remove just this death from me.” 
Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and pleaded with the LORD. 
The LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which carried the locusts away and drove them into the Red Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. 
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the Israelites go. 
The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness that can be felt.” 
Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness throughout all the land of Egypt for three days. 
They did not see one another, and no one rose from his place for three days. But all the Israelites had light where they lived. 
Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go and serve the LORD. Only your flocks and herds must stay behind. Your little ones may go with you as well.” 
Moses said, “You must also put sacrifices and burnt offerings into our hands, so that we may offer them to the LORD our God. 
Our livestock will also go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we must take from them to serve the LORD our God. We will not know with what we are to serve the LORD until we arrive there.” 
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go. 
Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Watch yourself! Do not see my face again, for on the day you see my face you will die.” 
Moses said, “You have spoken rightly. I will not see your face again.” 
