No! Go now, you who are men, [without your families] and serve the LORD, if that is what you want.” So Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up on the land of Egypt and eat all the plants of the land, all that the hail has left.” So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; when it was morning, the east wind had brought the [swarms of] locusts. The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in the whole territory, a very dreadful mass of them; never before were there such locusts as these, nor will there ever be again. For they covered the [visible] surface of the land, so that the ground was darkened; and they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained not a green thing on the trees or the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh hurried to call for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once [more], and pray and entreat the LORD your God, so that He will remove this [plague of] death from me.” Moses left Pharaoh and entreated the LORD. So the LORD shifted the wind to a violent west wind which lifted up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not one locust remained within the border of Egypt. But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart [so that it was even more resolved and obstinate], and he did not let the Israelites go.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that darkness may come over the land of Egypt, a darkness which [is so awful that it] may be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and for three days a thick darkness was all over the land of Egypt [no sun, no moon, no stars]. The Egyptians could not see one another, nor did anyone leave his place for three days, but all the Israelites had [supernatural] light in their dwellings. Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the LORD; only your flocks and your herds must be left behind. Even your children may go with you.” But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may sacrifice them to the LORD our God. Therefore, our livestock must also go with us; not one hoof shall be left behind, for we must take some of them to serve the LORD our God. Even we do not know with what we will serve the LORD until we arrive there.” But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Then Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get away from me! See that you never enter my presence again, for on the day that you see my face again you will die!” Then Moses said, “You are correct; I will never see your face again!”
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