The Plague on the Firstborn
1Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. 2Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” 3(The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.)
4So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. 5Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. 7But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.
9The Lord had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you—so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt.” 10Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.
滅長子之災
1耶和華對摩西說：「我給法老和埃及再降下一場災難，之後他必放你們走，甚至是把你們徹底趕走。 2你要告訴以色列人，不論男女，去向鄰近的埃及人索取金器銀器。」 3耶和華使埃及人恩待以色列人，法老的臣僕和百姓極其尊重摩西。
4摩西說：「耶和華這樣說，『今晚半夜，我要走遍埃及。 5埃及境內，從坐王位的法老的長子到推磨女奴的長子，以及所有頭生的牲畜，都必死亡。 6那時整個埃及必充滿哭號聲，慘況空前絕後。 7但在以色列人中，連狗也不會向人或牲畜吠叫，這樣你們就知道耶和華把埃及人和以色列人區分開了。 8到那時，你所有的臣僕都要來向我下拜，求我和跟隨我的百姓離開這裡。然後我才會離開。』」摩西說完便怒氣沖沖地離開法老。 9耶和華曾對摩西說：「法老一定不肯聽你的話，因此我要在埃及多行神蹟。」 10摩西和亞倫在法老面前行了這一切神蹟，但耶和華使法老的心剛硬，他不讓以色列人離開他的國土。
