Holman Christian Standard Bible (21 page)

27
 Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned this time,” he said to them. “Yahweh is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the
•guilty
ones.
28
 Make an appeal to Yahweh. There has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't need to stay any longer.”

29
 Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will extend my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know the earth belongs to Yahweh.
30
 But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear Yahweh our God.”

31
 The flax and the barley were destroyed because the barley was ripe and the flax was budding, 
32
 but the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed since they are later crops. 

33
 Moses went out from Pharaoh and the city, and extended his hands to the
Lord
. Then the thunder and hail ceased, and rain no longer poured down on the land.
34
 When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his officials.
35
 So Pharaoh's heart hardened, and he did not let the Israelites go, as the
Lord
had said through Moses.

Exodus

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

10
Then the
Lord
said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may do these miraculous signs of Mine among them,
2
 and so that you may tell your son and grandson how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am
•Yahweh
.”

3
 So Moses and Aaron went in 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, that they may worship Me. 
4
 But if you refuse to let My people go, then tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory.
5
 They will cover the surface of the land so that no one will be able to see the land. They will eat the remainder left to you that escaped the hail; they will eat every tree you have growing in the fields.
6
 They will fill your houses, all your officials' houses, and the houses of all the Egyptians — something your fathers and ancestors never saw since the time they occupied the land until today.” Then he turned and left Pharaoh's presence.

7
 Pharaoh's officials asked him, “How long must this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, so that they may worship Yahweh their God. Don't you realize yet that Egypt is devastated? ”

8
 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship Yahweh your God,” Pharaoh said. “But exactly who will be going? ”

9
 Moses replied, “We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds because we must hold Yahweh's festival.” 

10
 He said to them, “May Yahweh be with you if I ever let you and your families go! Look out — you are planning evil.
11
 No, only the men may go and worship Yahweh, for that is what you have been asking for.” And they were driven from Pharaoh's presence.

12
 The
Lord
then said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt and the locusts will come up over it and eat every plant in the land, everything that the hail left.”
13
 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the
Lord
sent an east wind over the land all that day and through the night. By morning the east wind had brought in the locusts.
14
 The locusts went up over the entire land of Egypt and settled on the whole territory of Egypt. Never before had there been such a large number of locusts, and there never will be again. 
15
 They covered the surface of the whole land so that the land was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on the trees or the plants in the field throughout the land of Egypt. 

16
 Pharaoh urgently sent for Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you.
17
 Please forgive my sin once more and make an appeal to Yahweh your God, so that He will take this death away from me.”
18
 Moses left Pharaoh's presence and appealed to the
Lord
. 
19
 Then the
Lord
changed the wind to a strong west wind, and it carried off the locusts and blew them into the
•Red
Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the territory of Egypt.
20
 But the
Lord
hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the Israelites go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

21
 Then the
Lord
said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.”
22
 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days.
23
 One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived. 

24
 Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship Yahweh. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”

25
 Moses responded, “You must also let us have sacrifices and
•burnt
offerings to prepare for Yahweh our God.
26
 Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind because we will take some of them to worship Yahweh our God. We will not know what we will use to worship Yahweh until we get there.”

27
 But the
Lord
hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.
28
 Pharaoh said to him, “Leave me! Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”

29
 “As you have said,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.” 

Exodus

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

11
The
Lord
said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you out of here.
2
 Now announce to the people that both men and women should ask their neighbors for silver and gold jewelry.”
3
 The
Lord
gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And the man Moses was highly regarded in the land of Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and the people. 

4
 So Moses said, “This is what
•Yahweh
says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,
5
 and every firstborn male in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is behind the millstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock.
6
 Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before, or ever will be again.
7
 But against all the Israelites, whether man or beast, not even a dog will snarl, so that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.
8
 All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me, saying: Leave, you and all the people who follow you. After that, I will leave.' ” And he left Pharaoh's presence in fierce anger. 

9
 The
Lord
said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
10
 Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the
Lord
hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.

Exodus

Instructions for the Passover

12
The
Lord
said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
2
 “This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year. 
3
 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers' households, one animal per household.
4
 If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each person will eat.
5
 You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats.
6
 You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. 
7
 They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them.
8
 They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 
9
 Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire — its head as well as its legs and inner organs.
10
 Do not let any of it remain until morning; you must burn up any part of it that does remain before morning.
11
 Here is how you must eat it: you must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the
Lord
's
•Passover
. 

12
 “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. I am
•Yahweh
; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. 
13
 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

14
 “This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the
Lord
. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute. 
15
 You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel.
16
 You are to hold a sacred assembly on the first day and another sacred assembly on the seventh day. No work may be done on those days except for preparing what people need to eat — you may do only that.

17
 “You are to observe the Festival of
•Unleavened
Bread because on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute.
18
 You are to eat unleavened bread in the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day.
19
 Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreign resident or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel.
20
 Do not eat anything leavened; eat unleavened bread in all your homes.” 

21
 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. 
22
 Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning.
23
 When the
Lord
passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, He will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you. 

24
 “Keep this command permanently as a statute for you and your descendants.
25
 When you enter the land that the
Lord
will give you as He promised, you are to observe this ritual.
26
 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you? '
27
 you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the
Lord
, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.' ” So the people bowed down and worshiped.
28
 Then the Israelites went and did this; they did just as the
Lord
had commanded Moses and Aaron.

The Exodus

29
 Now at midnight the
Lord
struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock. 
30
 During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn't a house without someone dead.
31
 He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship Yahweh as you have asked.
32
 Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked and leave, and also bless me.”

33
 Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said, “We're all going to die! ” 
34
 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.