1Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have made him and his servants stubborn so I can show them my miraculous signs,
2and so you can tell your son and your grandson what I have done to Egypt, and about the signs I performed among them. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”
3Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, "This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so they can worship me.
4If you refuse to let my people go, then tomorrow, I will bring locusts into your country.
5They will cover the surface of the ground so completely that you won't be able to see the ground. They will eat what little was left after the hail, and they will eat every tree that grows in your fields.
6Your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians will be filled with them. Neither your ancestors nor their ancestors have seen such a thing since they have been on the earth until today.'" Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
7Pharaoh's officials said to him, "How long will this man be a problem for us? Let the men go, so they can worship Yahweh their God. Don't you realize yet that Egypt is ruined?"
8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go and worship Yahweh your God. But who exactly is going?"
9Moses replied, “We will go with everyone—young and old, our sons and daughters, and all our flocks and herds. We must hold a celebration for Yahweh.”
10Pharaoh said to them, “Yahweh help you if I let you go with your children! Look, trouble clearly lies ahead for you.
11No! Only the men can go and worship Yahweh, since that’s what you asked for!” Then they were forced to leave Pharaoh’s presence.
12Yahweh told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt to bring locusts, so they will come up and eat all the plants in the land, everything that the hail left behind.”
13Moses stretched his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh sent an east wind across the land all that day and night. When morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts.
14The locusts spread over all of Egypt, settling in every part of the country. There had never been such a severe swarm of locusts before, and there never will be again.
15They covered the entire surface of the land, making it dark. They ate every plant and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had spared. Not a single green thing, whether tree or plant, was left in all of Egypt.
16Pharaoh quickly sent for Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you.
17Please forgive my sin this one more time, and pray to Yahweh your God that he will at least remove this deadly plague from me.”
18Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to Yahweh.
19Yahweh sent a very strong west wind that picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left anywhere in Egypt.
20But Yahweh made Pharaoh stubborn, and he would not let the people of Israel go.
21Yahweh told Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness so thick it can be felt.”
22Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and a dense darkness covered all of Egypt for three days.
23They couldn't see each other, and no one left their place for three days. But all the people of Israel had light in their homes.
24Pharaoh called for Moses and said, "Go, worship Yahweh. But leave your flocks and herds behind. Your little ones can go with you."
25Moses said, "You must also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings, so we can offer them to Yahweh our God.
26Our livestock must also go with us. Not a single animal will be left behind, because we need them to worship Yahweh our God. We don't know what we'll need to worship Yahweh until we get there."
27But Yahweh made Pharaoh stubborn, and he would not let them go.
28Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me! Don't let me see your face again, because the day you see my face, you will die!"
29Moses said, "You have spoken well. I will not see your face again."