Exodus 10 · WEB
Plagues of Locusts and Darkness
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Yahweh said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs among them,
2and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your son's son what I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh."
3Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, "This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.
4Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,
5and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won't be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field.
6Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.'" He turned and went out from Pharaoh.
7Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh their God. Don't you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?"
8Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go, serve Yahweh your God; but who are those who will go?"
9Moses 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 to Yahweh."
10He said to them, "Yahweh be with you if I let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your face.
11Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire." They were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
12Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every plant of the land, even all that the hail has left."
13Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
14The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
15For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every plant of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green in the trees, or in the plants of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
16Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron hastily, and he said, "I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you.
17Now therefore please forgive my sin again this once, and pray to Yahweh your God, that he may also take away from me this death."
18Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh.
19Yahweh sent an exceedingly strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt.
20But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he didn't let the children of Israel go.
21Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt."
22Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.
23They didn't see one another, neither did anyone rise from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
24Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, "Go, serve Yahweh! Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you."
25Moses said, "You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.
26Our livestock also shall go with us. There shall not a hoof be left behind; for of it we must take to serve Yahweh our God; and we don't know with what we must serve Yahweh, until we come there."
27But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he wouldn't let them go.
28Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me! Be careful to never see my face again; for in the day you see my face, you shall die!"
29Moses said, "You have spoken well. I will never see your face again."
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Summary
The eighth plague of locusts devours every remaining green plant in Egypt. Even Pharaoh's own officials urge him to relent — "Don't you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?" — but Pharaoh only agrees to let the men go, not women and children. After the locusts, the ninth plague blankets Egypt in three days of palpable darkness, while Israel has light. Pharaoh offers to let the people go but wants to keep their flocks; Moses refuses any compromise. The confrontation ends with Pharaoh banishing Moses from his presence on pain of death, and Moses accepting.
Themes
- The plagues as a story to be told across generations
- The crumbling of Pharaoh's power — even his court urges surrender
- Light and darkness as metaphors for God's presence and its absence
- The impossibility of partial obedience — God demands all
Key verses
- Ex 10:1-2 — “I have hardened his heart… that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your son's son what I have done to Egypt.”
- Ex 10:23 — “They didn't see one another… but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.”
- Ex 10:7 — “Pharaoh's servants said to him… 'Don't you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?'”
Context & background
Locust plagues are a well-documented catastrophe in the ancient Near East and continue to devastate agriculture in Africa and the Middle East today. A locust swarm can consume tens of thousands of tons of vegetation per day. The darkness plague is interpreted by some as a severe khamsin (sandstorm) brought by the east wind, turning day into night — a phenomenon still known in Egypt. The darkness over Egypt while Israel had light in Goshen prefigures the Passover's protection and the New Testament theme of Christ as the Light of the World entering a darkened creation. The locusts were driven into the "Red Sea" — the Hebrew yam suph, "Sea of Reeds," likely referring to a body of water in the Suez region of modern Egypt.
Cross-references
- 1 John 1:5 — "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all" — the ninth plague embodies this antithesis.
- Joel 1:4; 2:1-11 — The locust plague becomes a prophetic template for the Day of the Lord.
- John 1:5 — "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it" — the darkness plague and Israel's light foreshadow this truth.
- Revelation 9:3-10 — Locusts from the Abyss parallel the eighth plague in Revelation's end-time judgments.