HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 431
EXODUS 11
page 61
me. 4 If you refuse, watch out! For tomorrow I
will bring a swarm of locusts on your country.
5 They will cover the land so that you won’t be
able to see the ground. They will devour what
little is left of your crops after the hailstorm, including all the trees growing in the fields. 6 They
will overrun your palaces and the homes of your
officials and all the houses in Egypt. Never in
the history of Egypt have your ancestors seen
a plague like this one!” And with that, Moses
turned and left Pharaoh.
7 Pharaoh’s officials now came to Pharaoh
and appealed to him. “How long will you let this
man hold us hostage? Let the men go to worship
the Lord their God! Don’t you realize that Egypt
lies in ruins?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to
Pharaoh. “All right,” he told them, “go and worship the Lord your God. But who exactly will be
going with you?”
9 Moses replied, “We will all go—young and
old, our sons and daughters, and our flocks and
herds. We must all join together in celebrating a
festival to the Lord.”
10 Pharaoh retorted, “The Lord will certainly
need to be with you if I let you take your little
ones! I can see through your evil plan. 11 Never!
Only the men may go and worship the Lord,
since that is what you requested.” And Pharaoh
threw them out of the palace.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your
hand over the land of Egypt to bring on the locusts. Let them cover the land and devour every
plant that survived the hailstorm.”
13 So Moses raised his staff over Egypt, and
the Lord caused an east wind to blow over the
land all that day and through the night. When
morning arrived, the east wind had brought the
locusts. 14 And the locusts swarmed over the
whole land of Egypt, settling in dense swarms
from one end of the country to the other. It was
the worst locust plague in Egyptian history,
and there has never been another one like it.
15 For the locusts covered the whole country and
darkened the land. They devoured every plant
in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that
had survived the hailstorm. Not a single leaf
was left on the trees and plants throughout the
land of Egypt.
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and
Aaron. “I have sinned against the Lord your God
and against you,” he confessed. 17 “Forgive my
sin, just this once, and plead with the Lord your
God to take away this death from me.”
18 So Moses left Pharaoh’s court and pleaded
with the Lord. 19 The Lord responded by shifting the wind, and the strong west wind blew the
locusts into the Red Sea.* Not a single locust
remained in all the land of Egypt. 20 But the Lord
10:19 Hebrew sea of reeds.
hardened Pharaoh’s heart again, so he refused
to let the people go.
A Plague of Darkness
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Lift your hand
toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be
covered with a darkness so thick you can feel
it.” 22 So Moses lifted his hand to the sky, and
a deep darkness covered the entire land of
Egypt for three days. 23 During all that time the
people could not see each other, and no one
moved. But there was light as usual where the
people of Israel lived.
24 Finally, Pharaoh called for Moses. “Go and
worship the Lord,” he said. “But leave your
flocks and herds here. You may even take your
little ones with you.”
25 “No,” Moses said, “you must provide us
with animals for sacrifices and burnt offerings
to the Lord our God. 26 All our livestock must
go with us, too; not a hoof can be left behind.
We must choose our sacrifices for the Lord our
God from among these animals. And we won’t
know how we are to worship the Lord until we
get there.”
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart
once more, and he would not let them go. 28 “Get
out of here!” Pharaoh shouted at Moses. “I’m
warning you. Never come back to see me again!
The day you see my face, you will die!”
29 “Very well,” Moses replied. “I will never see
your face again.”
Death for Egypt’s Firstborn
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will strike
Pharaoh and the land of Egypt with one
more blow. After that, Pharaoh will let you leave
this country. In fact, he will be so eager to get rid
of you that he will force you all to leave. 2 Tell all
the Israelite men and women to ask their Egyptian neighbors for articles of silver and gold.”
11
• Family
E XODU S 10:2
What stories Moses had to tell! Living
out one of the greatest dramas in
biblical history, Moses witnessed events
few people would ever see. God told
Moses that his miraculous experiences
with Pharaoh should be retold to his
descendants. It is important for us to tell
our children about God’s work in our past
and to help them see what he is doing
right now. What are the turning points in
your life where God intervened? What
is God doing for you now? The stories
you share with your children will lay the
foundations for their belief in God.