Exodus 10; Exodus 11; Exodus 12

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Exodus 10

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh. I have made him and his officials stubborn so that I can do these miraculous signs among them.
2 You will be able to tell your children and grandchildren exactly how I treated the Egyptians and what miraculous signs I did among them. This is how you will all know that I am the LORD."
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "This is what the LORD God of the Hebrews says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself in my presence? Let my people go to worship me.
4 If you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country.
5 They will cover the land so that the ground can't be seen. They will eat everything left by the hail, including every tree still standing in the fields.
6 They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and those of all the Egyptians. Your parents and ancestors never saw anything like this from the time they first came here until now." Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
7 Then Pharaoh's officials asked him, "How long will this man hold us in his grip? Let the Israelite men go to worship the LORD their God. When will you realize that Egypt is ruined?"
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "Go, worship the LORD your God," he said to them. "But exactly who will be going?"
9 Moses answered, "Everyone! We'll be taking our young and old, our sons and daughters, our flocks and herds with us. For us it's a pilgrimage festival in the LORD's honor."
10 Pharaoh said to them, "The LORD would have to be with you if I would ever let you take your women and children along. I know you're up to no good!
11 No! Only the men may go to worship the LORD, since that's what you've been asking for." Then Moses and Aaron were thrown out of Pharaoh's palace.
12 The LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt to bring locusts. They will invade Egypt and eat up every plant in the land--everything left by the hail."
13 Moses held his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD made a wind from the east blow over the land all that day and all that night. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.
14 They invaded all of Egypt and landed all over the country in great swarms. Never before had there been so many locusts like this, nor would there ever be that many again.
15 They covered all the ground until it was black [with them]. They ate all the plants and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant anywhere in Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh quickly called for Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
17 Please forgive my sin one more time. Pray to the LORD your God to take this deadly plague away from me."
18 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD.
19 Then the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind. It picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt.
20 But the LORD made Pharaoh stubborn, so he did not let the Israelites go.
21 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Lift your hand toward the sky, and a darkness [so thick] that it can be felt will come over Egypt."
22 Moses lifted his hand toward the sky, and throughout Egypt there was total darkness for three days.
23 People couldn't see each other, and no one went anywhere for three days. But all the Israelites had light where they were living.
24 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and said, "Go, worship the LORD! Even your women and children may go with you, but your flocks and herds must stay behind."
25 But Moses said, "You must allow us to take [our animals] for the sacrifices and burnt offerings we have to make to the LORD our God.
26 All our livestock must go with us. Not one animal must be left behind. We'll have to use some of them for worshiping the LORD our God, and we won't know what we'll need until we get there."
27 But the LORD made Pharaoh stubborn, so he refused to let them go.
28 Pharaoh said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Don't ever let me see your face again. The day I do, you will die."
29 "You're right!" Moses answered. "You'll never see my face again."
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Exodus 11

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt. After that he will let you go. When he does, he will be certain to force all of you out of here.
2 Now announce to the people [of Israel] that each man and woman must ask the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry."
3 The LORD made the Egyptians kind to the people. And Moses was highly respected by Pharaoh's officials and all the Egyptians.
4 Moses said, "This is what the LORD says: About midnight I will go out among the Egyptians.
5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who rules the land, to the firstborn children of female slaves who use their handmills, including every firstborn domestic animal.
6 There will be loud crying throughout Egypt, such as there has never been or ever will be again.
7 But where the Israelites are, not even a dog will be startled by any person or animal. This is how you will see that the LORD shows the distinction between Egypt and Israel.
8 Then all these officials of yours will come, bow down to me, and say, 'You and all the people who follow you, get out!' After that I will leave." Burning with anger, Moses left Pharaoh.
9 The LORD had said to Moses, "Pharaoh will not listen to you. This is why I will do more amazing things in Egypt."
10 Moses and Aaron showed Pharaoh all these amazing things. Yet, the LORD made Pharaoh stubborn, so he wouldn't let the Israelites leave his country.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Exodus 12

1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,
2 "This month will be the very first month of the year for you.
3 Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth [day] of this month each man must take a lamb or a young goat for his family--one animal per household.
4 A household may be too small to eat a whole animal. That household and the one next door can share one animal. Choose your animal based on the number of people and what each person can eat.
5 Your animal must be a one-year-old male that has no defects. You may choose a lamb or a young goat.
6 Take care of it until the fourteenth [day] of this month. "Then at dusk, all the assembled people from the community of Israel must slaughter their animals.
7 They must take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they will eat the animals.
8 The meat must be eaten that same night. It must be roasted over a fire and eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.
9 Don't eat any of it raw or boiled but roast the whole animal over a fire.
10 Don't leave any of it until morning. Anything left over in the morning must be burned up.
11 This is how [you should be dressed when] you eat it: with your belt on, your sandals on your feet, and your shepherd's staff in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry. It is the LORD's Passover.
12 "On that same night I will go throughout Egypt and kill every firstborn male, both human and animal. I will severely punish all the gods of Egypt, [because] I am the LORD.
13 But the blood on your houses will be a sign for your protection. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Nothing will touch or destroy you when I strike Egypt.
14 "This day will be one for you to remember. This is a permanent law for generations to come: You will celebrate this day as a pilgrimage festival in the LORD's honor.
15 For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the very first day you must remove any yeast that you have in your houses. Whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh day must be excluded from Israel.
16 You must have a holy assembly on the first day and another one on the seventh. You must not work on these days except to prepare your own meals. That's all you may do.
17 You must celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread because it was on this very day that I brought you out of Egypt in organized family groups. This is a permanent law for future generations: You must celebrate this day.
18 From the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day you must eat unleavened bread.
19 There should be no yeast in your houses for seven days. Whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be excluded from the community of Israel, whether he is an Israelite or not.
20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat [only] unleavened bread."
21 Then Moses called for all the leaders of Israel. He said to them, "Pick out a lamb or a young goat for your families, and kill the Passover animal.
22 Take the branch of a hyssop plant, dip it in the blood which is in a bowl, and put some of the blood on the top and sides of the doorframes [of your houses]. No one may leave the house until morning.
23 The LORD will go throughout Egypt to kill the Egyptians. When he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, he will pass over that doorway, and he will not let the destroyer come into your home to kill you.
24 "You must follow these instructions. They are a permanent law for you and your children.
25 When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.
26 When your children ask you what this ceremony means to you,
27 you must answer, 'It's the Passover sacrifice in the LORD's honor. The LORD passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he killed the Egyptians.'" Then the people knelt, bowing with their faces touching the ground.
28 The Israelites did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.
29 At midnight the LORD killed every firstborn male in Egypt from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who ruled the land to the firstborn son of the prisoner in jail, and also every firstborn animal.
30 Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the [other] Egyptians got up during the night. There was loud crying throughout Egypt because in every house someone had died.
31 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron during the night. He said, "You and the Israelites must leave my people at once. Go, worship the LORD as you asked.
32 Take your flocks and herds, too, as you asked. Just go! And bless me, too!"
33 The Egyptians begged the people to leave the country quickly. They said, "Soon we'll all be dead!"
34 So the people picked up their bread dough before it had risen and carried it on their shoulders in bowls, wrapped up in their clothes.
35 The Israelites did what Moses had told them and asked the Egyptians for gold and silver jewelry and for clothes.
36 The LORD made the Egyptians generous to the people, and they gave them what they asked for. So the Israelites stripped Egypt of its wealth.
37 The Israelites left Rameses to go to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, plus all the women and children.
38 Many other people also went with them, along with large numbers of sheep, goats, and cattle.
39 With the dough they had brought from Egypt, they baked round, flat bread. The dough hadn't risen because they'd been thrown out of Egypt and had no time to prepare food for the trip.
40 The Israelites had been living in Egypt for 430 years.
41 After exactly 430 years all the LORD's people left Egypt in organized family groups.
42 That night the LORD kept watch to take them out of Egypt. (All Israelites in future generations must keep watch on this night, since it is dedicated to the LORD.)
43 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the rules for the Passover: "No foreigner may eat the Passover meal.
44 "Any male slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him.
45 "No foreigner visiting you may eat it. "No hired worker may eat it.
46 "The meal must be eaten inside one house. Never take any of the meat outside the house. "Never break any of the bones.
47 "The whole community of Israel must celebrate the Passover.
48 "Foreigners may want to celebrate the LORD's Passover. First, every male in the household must be circumcised. Then they may celebrate the Passover like native-born Israelites. But no uncircumcised males may ever eat the Passover meal.
49 The same instructions apply to native-born Israelites as well as foreigners."
50 All the Israelites did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.
51 That very day the LORD brought all the Israelites out of Egypt in organized family groups.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.