The Plague of Locusts
1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh. I have made him stubborn. I have also made his officials stubborn so I can perform my signs among them. 2Then you will be able to tell your children and grandchildren how hard I was on the Egyptians. You can tell them I performed my signs among the people of Egypt. And all of you will know that I am the Lord.”
3So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They said to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘How long will you refuse to obey me? Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 4If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. 5They will cover the ground so that it can’t be seen. They will eat what little you have left after the hail. That includes every tree growing in your fields. 6They will fill your houses. They will be in the homes of all your officials and your people. Your parents and your people before them have never seen anything like it as long as they have lived here.’ ” Then Moses turned around and left Pharaoh.
7Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a trap for us? Let the people go. Then they’ll be able to worship the Lord their God. After everything that’s happened, don’t you realize that Egypt is destroyed?”
8Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go. Worship the Lord your God,” he said. “But tell me who will be going.”
9Moses answered, “We’ll go with our young people and old people. We’ll go with our sons and daughters. We’ll take our flocks and herds. We are supposed to hold a feast to honor the Lord.”
10Pharaoh said, “Suppose I ever let you go, along with your women and children. Then the Lord really will be with all of you! Clearly you are planning to do something bad. 11No! I’ll only allow the men to go and worship the Lord. After all, that’s what you have been asking for.” Then Pharaoh drove Moses and Aaron out of his sight.
12The Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand over Egypt so that locusts cover the land. They will eat up everything growing in the fields. They will eat up everything left by the hail.”
13So Moses reached out his walking stick over Egypt. Then the Lord made an east wind blow across the land. It blew all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts. 14Large numbers of them came down in every part of Egypt. There had never been a plague of locusts like it before. And there will never be one like it again. 15The locusts covered the ground until it was black. They ate up everything left after the hail. They ate up everything growing in the fields. They ate up the fruit on the trees. There was nothing green left on any tree or plant in the whole land of Egypt.
16Pharaoh quickly sent for Moses and Aaron. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God. I’ve also sinned against you. 17Now forgive my sin one more time. Pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”
18After Moses left Pharaoh, he prayed to the Lord. 19The Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind. It picked up the locusts. It blew them into the Red Sea. Not even one locust was left anywhere in Egypt. 20But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn. So Pharaoh wouldn’t let the people of Israel go.
The Plague of Darkness
21The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Reach out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt. It will be so dark that people can feel it.” 22So Moses reached out his hand toward the sky. Then complete darkness covered Egypt for three days. 23No one could see anyone else or go anywhere for three days. But all the people of Israel had light where they lived.
24Then Pharaoh sent for Moses. He said to him, “Go. Worship the Lord. Even your women and children can go with you. Just leave your flocks and herds behind.”
25But Moses said, “You must allow us to take our animals. We need to offer them as sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord our God. 26Our livestock must also go with us. We have to use some of them to worship the Lord our God. We can’t leave even one animal behind. Until we get there, we won’t know what we are supposed to use to worship the Lord.”
27But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn. So he wouldn’t let the people go. 28Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you don’t come to see me again! If you do, you will die.”
29“I’ll do just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never come to see you again.”
蝗蟲之災
1耶和華對摩西說：「你去見法老，我已使他和他臣僕的心剛硬，好在他們當中行我這些神蹟。 2這樣，你就可以把我如何嚴懲埃及人以及我在他們當中所行的神蹟告訴你的子孫，好叫你們知道我是耶和華。」
3摩西和亞倫便進宮去見法老，對他說：「希伯來人的上帝耶和華說，『你要到什麼時候才肯在我面前謙卑下來，讓我的子民離開這裡去事奉我？ 4這次你若再不答應，明天我要使蝗蟲飛入你的國境。 5牠們鋪天蓋地，要吃光冰雹過後田間所剩的，包括一切樹木。 6你的王宮及臣僕和所有埃及人的房屋都要佈滿蝗蟲，這是你祖祖輩輩從未見過的蝗災。』」摩西說完，便轉身離開法老。
7臣僕對法老說：「這個人還要給我們添多少麻煩呢？讓他們離開去事奉他們的上帝耶和華吧！埃及已經快崩潰了，你不知道嗎？」 8法老便召摩西和亞倫進宮，對他們說：「你們去事奉你們的上帝耶和華吧！但你們誰要去呢？」 9摩西回答說：「我們男女老幼都要去，還有我們的牛群和羊群，因為我們要去守耶和華的節期，向祂獻祭。」 10法老聽後，說：「我若讓你們帶走婦女和孩子，最好耶和華能保護你們！你們真是居心叵測。 11不行！只有男子可以去事奉耶和華，這是你們一直要求的。」法老說完，便下令把他們趕出去。
12耶和華對摩西說：「你向埃及伸杖，使蝗蟲飛來吃盡冰雹過後剩下的植物。」 13摩西就向埃及伸杖。耶和華使東風在埃及境內颳了整整一天一夜，到早晨，東風帶來了蝗蟲。 14埃及到處都佈滿了蝗蟲，數目之多實在是空前絕後。 15整個埃及鋪滿蝗蟲，地上一片黑暗。這些蝗蟲吃盡了冰雹過後剩下的農作物和樹上的果子，沒有留下一點青綠。 16法老急忙召見摩西和亞倫，對他們說：「我得罪了你們的上帝耶和華，又得罪了你們。 17現在求你饒恕我的罪，就這一次，為我祈求你們的上帝耶和華撤去這場死亡之災吧！」 18摩西就離開法老出去祈求耶和華， 19耶和華就把風向倒轉，變成猛烈的西風，把蝗蟲颳走，吹進紅海。埃及境內一隻蝗蟲也沒留下。 20可是，耶和華又使法老心硬，不讓以色列人離開埃及。
黑暗之災
21耶和華對摩西說：「你向天伸杖，使埃及全境漆黑一片，那黑暗濃得甚至可以摸到。」 22摩西向天伸杖，埃及全境便漆黑了三天之久。 23埃及人彼此看不見，誰也不敢移動半步。可是，以色列人住的地方卻有光。 24法老把摩西召來，對他說：「去吧，帶著你們的婦女和孩子去事奉耶和華吧，但你們要把牛羊留下。」 25摩西回答說：「你要讓我們帶走牛羊，因為牠們是獻給我們上帝耶和華的祭物和燔祭牲。 26我們要帶走所有的牲畜，一隻蹄子也不留下，因為我們要從其中選一些來獻給我們的上帝耶和華。我們抵達目的地前，還不知道把哪些獻給祂。」 27但耶和華使法老的心剛硬，不肯讓以色列百姓離開。 28法老對摩西說：「給我滾出去！不要再讓我見到你，因為你再見我面之日必死。」 29摩西回答說：「你說得好，我必不再見你的面。」
