Chapter 10
1 And HaShem said unto Moses: 'Go in unto Pharaoh; for I have
hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these My
signs in the midst of them;
2 and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of
thy son's son, what I have wrought upon Egypt, and My signs which I have done
among them; that ye may know that I am HaShem.'
3 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and said unto
him: 'Thus saith HaShem, the G-d of the Hebrews: How long wilt thou refuse to
humble thyself before Me? let My people go, that they may serve Me.
4 Else, if thou refuse to let My people go, behold, to-morrow
will I bring locusts into thy border;
5 and they shall cover the face of the earth, that one shall
not be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of that which is
escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which
groweth for you out of the field;
6 and thy houses shall be filled, and the houses of all thy
servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither thy fathers nor thy
fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto
this day.' And he turned, and went out from Pharaoh.
7 And Pharaoh's servants said unto him: 'How long shall this
man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve HaShem their G-d,
knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?'
8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh; and he
said unto them: 'Go, serve HaShem your G-d; but who are they that shall go?'
9 And Moses said: 'We will go with our young and with our
old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds we
will go; for we must hold a feast unto HaShem.'
10 And he said unto them: 'So be HaShem with you, as I will
let you go, and your little ones; see ye that evil is before your face.
11 Not so; go now ye that are men, and serve HaShem; for that
is what ye desire.' And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
12
And HaShem said unto Moses: 'Stretch out thy hand over the land of Egypt for the
locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the
land, even all that the hail hath left.'
13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt,
and HaShem brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night;
and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and
rested in all the borders of Egypt; very grievous were they; before them there
were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the
land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of
the trees which the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing,
either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he
said: 'I have sinned against HaShem your G-d, and against you.
17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once,
and entreat HaShem your G-d, that He may take away from me this death only.'
18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated HaShem.
19 And HaShem turned an exceeding strong west wind, which
took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea; there remained not one
locust in all the border of Egypt.
20 But HaShem hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let
the children of Israel go.
21 And HaShem said unto Moses:
'Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of
Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.'
22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and
there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days;
23 they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place
for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said: 'Go ye, serve
HaShem; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed; let your little ones also
go with you.'
25 And Moses said: 'Thou must also give into our hand
sacrifices and burnt-offerings, that we may sacrifice unto HaShem our G-d.
26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof
be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve HaShem our G-d; and we know
not with what we must serve HaShem, until we come thither.'
27 But HaShem hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let
them go.
28 And Pharaoh said unto him: 'Get thee from me, take heed to
thyself, see my face no more; for in the day thou seest my face thou shalt die.'
29 And Moses said: 'Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy
face again no more.'
Sources: Portions copyright © 1997 by Benyamin Pilant, All Rights Reserved
JPS Electronic Edition, based on the 1917 JPS translation, Copyright © 1998 by Larry Nelson, All Rights Reserved
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