The One Year Bible for Women - Flipbook - Page 95
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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, M
oses 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 cel
ebrating 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 Pha
raoh 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 e very 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 hardened Pharaoh’s heart again, so
he refused to let the people go.
21 Then the Lord said to M
oses, “Lift your
hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt
will be covered with a darkness so thick you
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can feel it.” 22 So M
oses 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,” M
oses 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 M
oses.
“I’m warning you. Never come back to see me
again! The day you see my face, you will die!”
29 “Very well,” M
oses replied. “I will never
see your face again.”
11:1 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.” 3 (Now the Lord had caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the people of Israel.
And M
oses was considered a very great man
in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh’s
officials and the Egyptian people alike.)
4 Moses had announced to Pharaoh, “This
is what the Lord says: At midnight tonight I
will pass through the heart of Egypt. 5 All the
firstborn sons will die in every family in Egypt,
from the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sits on
his throne, to the oldest son of his lowliest
servant girl who grinds the flour. Even the
firstborn of all the livestock will die. 6 Then
a loud wail will rise throughout the land of
Egypt, a wail like no one has heard before or
will ever hear again. 7 But among the Israelites
it will be so peaceful that not even a dog will
bark. Then you will know that the Lord makes
a distinction between the Egyptians and the
Israelites. 8 All the officials of Egypt will run to
me and fall to the ground before me. ‘Please
leave!’ they will beg. ‘Hurry! And take all your
followers with you.’ Only then will I go!” Then,
burning with anger, M
oses left Pharaoh.
9 Now the Lord had told
Moses earlier,
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