Exodus 10:21-11:10

Amplified Bible

Darkness over the Land

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that ^[a]darkness may come over the land of Egypt, a darkness which [is so awful that it] may be felt.” ²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and for three days a thick darkness was all over the land of Egypt [no sun, no moon, no stars]. ²³ The Egyptians could not see one another, nor did anyone leave his place for three days, but all the Israelites had [supernatural] light in their dwellings. ²⁴ Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only your flocks and your herds must be left behind. Even your children may go with you.” ²⁵ But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may sacrifice them to the Lord our God. ²⁶ Therefore, our livestock must also go with us; not one hoof shall be left behind, for we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God. Even we do not know with what we will serve the Lord until we arrive there.” ²⁷ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. ²⁸ Then Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get away from me! See that you never enter my presence again, for on the day that you see my face again you will die!” ²⁹ Then Moses said, “You are correct; I will never see your face again!”

The Last Plague

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring yet one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will most certainly drive you out of here completely. ² Speak so that all of the people [of Israel] may hear, and tell every man to ask from his neighbor, and every woman to ask from her neighbor, articles of silver, and articles of gold.” ³ The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, [both] in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

⁴ Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘At midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and all the firstborn in the land [the pride, hope, and joy] of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the hand-mill, and all the firstborn of cattle as well. ⁶ There shall be a great cry [of heartache and sorrow] throughout the land of Egypt, such as has never been before and such as shall never be again. ⁷ But not even a dog will ^[b]threaten any of the Israelites, whether man or animal, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge how the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ ⁸ All these servants of yours will come down to me and bow down before me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ After that I will leave.” And he left Pharaoh in the heat of anger.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders (miracles) may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders (miracles) before Pharaoh; yet the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the Israelites go out of his land.