The Eighth Plague: Locusts
1Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart and the hearts of his servants unyielding, so that I may perform these signs of mine among them, 2and so that you may tell your son and your grandson how I made a mockery of the Egyptians, and the signs I performed among them — so that you may know that I am Yahweh.” 3So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to 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 serve me. 4For if you refuse to let my people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow. 5They will cover the surface of the land so that no one can see the ground. They will devour what little the hail has left you, and they will devour every tree growing in your fields. 6They will fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and all the Egyptians — something neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, from the day they came to be on this soil until this very day.” And he turned and walked out from Pharaoh. 7Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a trap to us? Let the men go to serve Yahweh their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is being ruined?” 8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your God. But who exactly is going?” 9Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds, for we have a feast to Yahweh.” 10He said to them, “May Yahweh be with you the same way I am about to let you go, along with your little ones! Clearly you have evil in mind. 11No! Just the men may go and serve Yahweh, since that is what you are really asking for.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. 12Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up over the land of Egypt and devour every plant of the land — everything the hail has left.” 13So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh drove an east wind over the land all that day and all that night; by morning the east wind had brought the locusts. 14The locusts came up over the whole land of Egypt and settled over the whole territory of Egypt, in numbers so great — never before had there been so many locusts, nor will there ever be again. 15They covered the surface of the whole land until it was black, and they devoured every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees the hail had left; nothing green remained on tree or plant throughout the land of Egypt. 16Pharaoh hurried to summon Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you,” he said. 17“Now please forgive my sin, just this once, and plead with Yahweh your God to take this deadly plague away from me.” 18So Moses went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with Yahweh. 19Yahweh turned a very strong west wind that carried the locusts away and drove them into the Sea of Reeds; not a single locust remained anywhere in the territory of Egypt. 20But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the Israelites go.
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that darkness may fall over the land of Egypt — a darkness so thick it can be felt.” 22So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness over the whole land of Egypt for three days. 23No one could see anyone else, and no one moved from where he was for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived. 24Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve Yahweh. Only leave your flocks and herds behind — your little ones may go with you.” 25But Moses said, “You yourself must provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to Yahweh our God. 26Our livestock must go with us too — not a hoof will be left behind — for we must take from them to serve Yahweh our God, and we ourselves will not know what we are to offer Yahweh until we get there.” 27But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. 28Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Make sure you never see my face again — the day you see my face you will die.” 29Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will never see your face again.”
