(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,

(5) The total number of persons that were of Jacob’s issue came to seventy, Joseph being already in Egypt. (6) Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation. (7) But the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them. (8) A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.

§ “And there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). Rav and Shmuel - One says that this means he was actually a new king, and one says that this means that his decrees were transformed. The one who says that he was actually a new king holds that it is because it is written “new.” And the one who says that his decrees were transformed holds that it is because it is not written: “And the previous king of Egypt died and a new king reigned.” The words, “Who knew not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8), mean that he was like someone who did not know him at all.

Who did not know Joseph-- meaning that he was ungrateful (denied the good), as though he didn't recognize Joseph and forgot all the kindnesses Joseph had done for him: that he brought all the money into Pharaoh’s house, and acquired them [the Egyptians] and their land for Pharaoh. Yet now he denied him and betrayed him. And just as he denied Joseph, so too did he deny his Creator. For Joseph said to him, “What God is about to do He has shown to Pharaoh” (Genesis 41:28), yet he said, “I do not know the Lord” (Exodus 5:2). Cursed are the wicked, for they are ungrateful, denying the One who does good for them.

(14) And GOD said to Moses, “Pharaoh is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. (15) Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is coming out to the water, and station yourself before him at the edge of the Nile, taking with you the rod that turned into a snake. (16) And say to him, ‘The ETERNAL, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let My people go that they may worship Me in the wilderness.” But you have paid no heed until now.

(1) הנה יצא המימה LO, HE GOETH OUT UNTO THE WATER to ease himself. For he claimed to be a god and asserted that because of his divine power he had no need for his orefices/openings; and therefore he used to rise early and go to the Nile and there eased himself in secret (Midrash Tanchuma, Vaera 14; Exodus Rabbah 9:8).

(1) Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe, Who formed man with wisdom and created within him openings and hollows. It is obvious and known in the presence of Your glorious throne that if one of them were ruptured, or if one of them were blocked, it would be impossible to exist and stand in Your Presence even for a short while. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Who heals all flesh and performs wonders.

(3) Speak these words:
Thus said the Sovereign GOD:
I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt,Mighty monster, sprawling in your channels,
Who said,My Nile is my own;I made it for myself.

(1) Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the ETERNAL, the God of Israel: Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me in the wilderness.” (2) But Pharaoh said, “Who is GOD that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know GOD, nor will I let Israel go.” (3) They answered, “The God of the Hebrews has become manifest to us. Let us go, we pray, a distance of three days into the wilderness to sacrifice to the ETERNAL our God, lest we be struck with pestilence or sword.”

(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.

(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.