CHAPTER 10
1 And the Lord said to Moses, Enter thou to Pharaoh, for I have made hard the heart of him, and of his servants, that I do these signs of me in him;
2 and that thou tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s sons, how oft I all-brake the Egyptians, and did signs in them; and that ye know that I am the Lord.
3 Therefore Moses and Aaron entered to Pharaoh, and said to him, The Lord God of Hebrews saith these things, How long wilt thou not be made subject to me? Deliver thou my people, that it make sacrifice to me;
4 else soothly if thou against-standest, and wilt not deliver it, lo! I shall bring in tomorrow a locust, that is, a multitude of locusts, into thy coasts,
5 that shall cover the over-part of the earth, neither anything thereof shall appear, but that, that was left of the hail shall be eaten of locusts; for the locusts shall gnaw all the trees that burgeon in [the] fields;
6 and they shall full-fill thine houses, and the houses of thy servants, and of all the Egyptians, how great thy fathers and thy grand-sires saw not, since they were born on earth, till into this present day. And Moses turned away himself, and went out from Pharaoh.
7 Forsooth the servants of Pharaoh said to him, How long shall we suffer this offense? Deliver the men, that they make sacrifice to their Lord God; seest thou not that Egypt hath perished?
8 And they again called Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh, and he said to them, Go ye, and make ye sacrifice to your Lord God; which be they, that shall go?
9 Moses said, We shall go with our little children and elders, and with sons, and daughters, with sheep, and great beasts; for it is the solemnity of our Lord God.
10 And Pharaoh answered, So the Lord be with you*; how therefore shall I deliver you, and your little children? to whom is it doubtful, that ye think not the worst things?
11 It shall not be done so; but go ye men only, and make ye sacrifice to the Lord; for also ye asked this. And anon they were cast out from the sight of Pharaoh.
12 Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, Hold forth thine hand on the land of Egypt, to a locust, that is, a multitude of locusts, that it ascend [or go up] on the land, and devour all the herb which is left of the hail.
13 And Moses held forth the rod on the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought in a burning wind all that day and night; and when the morrowtide was made, the burning wind raised [up] locusts,
14 which ascended [or went up] on all the land of Egypt, and sat in all the coasts of Egyptians; and the locusts were unnumberable, and such were not before that time, neither shall come afterward.
15 And those [or they] covered all the face of the earth, and wasted all things; therefore the herb of the earth was devoured, and whatever of apples was in trees, which the hail had left, it was devoured; and utterly no green thing was left in trees, and in herbs of the earth, in all Egypt.
16 Wherefore Pharaoh hasted, and called Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned against your Lord God, and against you;
17 but now forgive ye the sin to me; also in this time pray ye your Lord God, that he take away from me this death.
18 And Moses went out of the sight of Pharaoh, and prayed the Lord;
19 the which made a full strong wind to blow from the west, and it took, and cast the locusts into the Red Sea†; soothly there left not one, in all the coasts of Egypt.
20 And the Lord made hard the heart of Pharaoh, and he let go not the sons of Israel.
21 Forsooth the Lord said to Moses, Hold forth thine hand into heaven, and darkness/es be on the land of Egypt, so thick that they may be groped.
22 And Moses held forth his hand into heaven, and horrible darknesses were made in all the land of Egypt;
23 and in three days no man saw his brother, neither moved himself from that place in which he was. Wherever the children of Israel dwelled, light was.
24 And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said to them, Go ye, make ye sacrifice to the Lord; only your sheep and your great beasts dwell still; your little children go with you.
25 And Moses said, Also thou shalt give to us offerings and burnt sacrifices, which we shall offer to our Lord God;
26 all the flocks shall go with us, for a claw shall not dwell of those things, that be needful into the worshipping of our Lord God, mostly since we know not what oweth to be offered, till we come to that place.
27 Forsooth the Lord made hard the heart of Pharaoh, and he would not deliver them.
28 And Pharaoh said to Moses, Go away from me, and beware that thou see no more my face; in whatever day thou shalt appear to me, thou shalt die.
29 Moses answered, Be it done so, as thou hast spoken; I shall no more see thy face.
* CHAPTER 10:10 He said this in scorn, understanding the contrary. † CHAPTER 10:19 In Hebrew, ‘the Sea of Reeds’; in Greek, ‘the Red Sea’ (Gehman).