(1) Then GOD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his courtiers, in order that I may display these My signs among them, (2) and that you may recount in the hearing of your child and of your child’s child how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed My signs among them—in order that you may know that I am GOD.” (3) So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the ETERNAL, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go that they may worship Me.

(4) For if you refuse to let My people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts on your territory. (5) They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They shall devour the surviving remnant that was left to you after the hail; and they shall eat away all your trees that grow in the field. (6) Moreover, they shall fill your palaces and the houses of all your courtiers and of all the Egyptians—something that neither your fathers nor fathers’ fathers have seen from the day they appeared on earth to this day.’” With that he turned and left Pharaoh’s presence.

(7) Pharaoh’s courtiers said to him, “How long shall this one be a snare to us? Let those involved go to worship the ETERNAL their God! Are you not yet aware that Egypt is lost?” (8) So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh and he said to them, “Go, worship the ETERNAL your God! Who are the ones to go?” (9) Moses replied, “We will all go—regardless of our station—we will go with our sons and daughters, our flocks and herds; for we must observe GOD’s festival.” (10) But he said to them, “GOD be with you—the same as I mean to let your dependents go with you! Clearly, you are bent on mischief. (11) No! You gentlemen go and worship GOD, since that is what you want.” And they were expelled from Pharaoh’s presence.

(12) Then GOD said to Moses, “Hold out your arm over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat up all the grasses in the land, whatever the hail has left.” (13) So Moses held out his rod over the land of Egypt, and GOD drove an east wind over the land all that day and all night; and when morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. (14) Locusts invaded all the land of Egypt and settled within all the territory of Egypt in a thick mass; never before had there been so many, nor will there ever be so many again. (15) They hid all the land from view, and the land was darkened; and they ate up all the grasses of the field and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left, so that nothing green was left, of tree or grass of the field, in all the land of Egypt.

(16) Pharaoh hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I stand guilty before the ETERNAL your God and before you. (17) Forgive my offense just this once, and plead with the ETERNAL your God that this death but be removed from me.” (18) So he left Pharaoh’s presence and pleaded with GOD. (19) GOD caused a shift to a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and hurled them into the Sea of Reeds; not a single locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. (20) But GOD stiffened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go. (21) Then GOD said to Moses, “Hold out your arm toward the sky that there may be darkness upon the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be touched.” (22) Moses held out his arm toward the sky and thick darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days. (23) People could not see one another, and for three days no one could move about; but all the Israelites enjoyed light in their dwellings.

(24) Pharaoh then summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship GOD! Only your flocks and your herds shall be left behind; even your dependents may go with you.” (25) But Moses said, “You yourself must provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer up to the ETERNAL our God; (26) our own livestock, too, shall go along with us—not a hoof shall remain behind: for we must select from it for the worship of the ETERNAL our God; and we shall not know with what we are to worship GOD until we arrive there.” (27) But GOD stiffened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not agree to let them go. (28) Pharaoh said to him, “Be gone from me! Take care not to see me again, for the moment you look upon my face you shall die.” (29) And Moses replied, “You have spoken rightly. I shall not see your face again!”

(1) And GOD said to Moses, “I will bring but one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; after that he shall let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you out of here one and all. (2) Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor and each woman from hers, objects of silver and gold.” (3) GOD disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people. Moreover, Moses himself was much esteemed in the land of Egypt, among Pharaoh’s courtiers and among the people.

(1) And GOD said to Moses, “I will bring but one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; after that he shall let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you out of here one and all. (2) Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor and each woman from hers, objects of silver and gold.” (3) GOD disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people. Moreover, Moses himself was much esteemed in the land of Egypt, among Pharaoh’s courtiers and among the people.

(13) The word that GOD spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the coming of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon to attack the land of Egypt: (14)Declare in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol,Proclaim in Noph and Tahpanhes!Say: Take your posts and stand ready,For the sword has devoured all around you!(15)Why are your stalwarts swept away?They did not stand firm,For GOD thrust them down; (16)Many were made to stumble,They fell over one another.They said:“Up! let us return to our people,To the land of our birth,Because of the deadly sword.” (17)There they called Pharaoh king of Egypt:“Braggart who let the hour go by.”(18)As I live—declares the King,Whose name is GOD of Hosts—
As surely as Tabor is among the mountainsAnd Carmel is by the sea,So shall this come to pass.(19)Equip yourself for exile,Fair Egypt, you who dwell secure!For Noph shall become a waste,Desolate, without inhabitants.(20)Egypt is a handsome heifer—A gadfly from the north is coming, coming! (21)The mercenaries, too, in her midstAre like stall-fed calves;They too shall turn tail,Flee as one, and make no stand.Their day of disaster is upon them,The hour of their doom.(22)She shall rustle away like a snakeAs they come marching in force;They shall come against her with axes,Like hewers of wood.(23)They shall cut down her forest—declares GOD—
Though it cannot be measured;For they are more numerous than locusts,And cannot be counted.(24)Fair Egypt shall be shamed,Handed over to the people of the north.(25) GOD of Hosts, the God of Israel, has said: I will inflict punishment on Amon of No and on Pharaoh—on Egypt, her gods, and her kings—on Pharaoh and all who rely on him. (26) I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek to kill them, into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and into the hands of his subjects. But afterward she shall be inhabited again as in former days, declares GOD. (27)But you,Have no fear, My servant Jacob,Be not dismayed, O Israel!I will deliver you from far away,Your folk from their land of captivity;And Jacob again shall have calmAnd quiet, with none to trouble him.(28)But you, have no fear,My servant Jacob—declares GOD—
For I am with you.I will make an end of all the nationsAmong which I have banished you,But I will not make an end of you!I will not leave you unpunished,But I will chastise you in measure.

(1)Hear the word that GOD has spoken to you, O House of Israel! (2)Thus said GOD:
Do not learn to go the way of the nations,And do not be dismayed by portents in the sky;Let the nations be dismayed by them!(3)For the laws of the nations are delusions:
For it is the work of a craftsman’s hands.He cuts down a tree in the forest with an ax,(4)He adorns it with silver and gold,He fastens it with nails and hammer,
So that it does not totter.(5)They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch,They cannot speak.They have to be carried,For they cannot walk.Be not afraid of them, for they can do no harm;Nor is it in them to do any good.(6)O ETERNAL One, there is none like You!
You are great and Your name is great in power.(7)Who would not revere You, O Sovereign of the nations?For that is Your due,Since among all the wise of the nationsAnd among all their royaltyThere is none like You.(8)But they are both dull and foolish;[Their] doctrine is but delusion;It is a piece of wood,(9)Silver beaten flat, that is brought from Tarshish,And gold from Uphaz,The work of a craftsman and the goldsmith’s hands;Their clothing is blue and purple,All of them are the product of skilled workers.(10)But the ETERNAL is truly God—
A living God,The everlasting Sovereign.At God’s wrath, the earth quakes,And nations cannot endure such rage.