Exodus 10:1-11

The Plague of Locusts

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, so that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, ²and that you may tell in the presence of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, so that you may know that I am the Lord.”

³So 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. ⁴For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. ⁵And they will cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They will also eat the rest of what has survived—what is left to you from the hail—and they will eat every tree of yours which grows in the field. ⁶Then your houses will be filled with them, together with the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they came upon the earth until this day.’ ” And he turned and left Pharaoh. ⁷Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is destroyed?” ⁸So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God! Who specifically are the ones who are going?” ⁹Moses said, “We shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we shall go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.” ¹⁰Then he said to them, “So may the Lord be with you, when I let you and your little ones go! Watch out, for evil is on your mind! ¹¹Not so! Go now, but only the men among you, and serve the Lord, since that is what you desire.” So they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

Darkness over the Land