The eighth plague: Locusts
1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:
2And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD.
God said to Moses,
Go to the Pharaoh.
(I have hardened his heart [1] so I can show him all my signs and wonders, and so you can tell your sons and grandsons about all the things I did in Egypt. That way you'll know that I am God. [2]) /blockquote>
3 And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.
4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.
So Moses and Aaron went to the Pharaoh and said to him,
This is what God says,
How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?
If you refuse to let my people go, I'll bring locusts to cover the ground, fill all the houses, and eat every plant in Egypt.
There will be more locusts than anyone has ever seen before and they'll destroy whatever has survived my previous plagues.
7 And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Pharaoh's servants said to the Pharaoh,
How long are you going to let Moses plague us?
Let him and his people go, so they can serve their God, before Egypt is completely destroyed.
8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go?
The Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron,
Go serve your God. But who will go with you?
9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
Moses said,
We will take everyone, young and old, along with our animals. Because we must have a feast for God.
10 And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.
11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
The Pharaoh said,
Okay. Go with God. Take your children with you.
12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
God said to Moses,
Stretch out your hand over Egypt to bring the locusts to eat every plant in Egypt. [3]
13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
14And the locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
So Moses stretched out his hand and God brought an east wind, which blew for a day and a night.
The next morning, the ground was covered with locusts, who ate every plant in Egypt. [4]
16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.
17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only.
The Pharaoh called Moses and said,
I have sinned against your God and against you.
Please forgive me this once, and ask God to quit killing us.
18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.
19 And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.
Moses asked God, and God sent a west wind that blew away all the locusts.
20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.
But God hardened the Pharaoh's heart, so that he wouldn't let the Israelites go. [5]
The ninth plague: Three days of darkness
21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
God said to Moses,
Stretch out your hand toward heaven to make darkness over Egypt, a darkness that can even be felt.
22And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
So Moses stretched out his hand, and a thick darkness descended on Egypt for three days.
23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
It was so dark that the Egyptians couldn't see one another. But it was light in all of the Israelites' dwellings.
24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.
The Pharaoh called Moses and said,
Go and serve God.
Keep your flocks and herds here in Egypt, but take your children with you.
25 And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God.
26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither.
Moses said,
We will take our animals with us, because we will have to sacrifice them to God.
27But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.
But then God hardened the Pharaoh's heart (again) so he wouldn't let the people go. [6]
28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.
Pharaoh said to Moses,
Get away from me. I never want to see your face again.
If I see you again, I'll kill you.
29 And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.
Moses replied,
Don't worry. You won't see me again.