The Eighth Plague: Locusts

Exodus 10

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and s that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, t that you may know that I am the Lord."

3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, 'How long will you refuse to u humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring v locusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall w eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, 6 and they shall fill x your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.'" Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

7 Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?" 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, y "Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?" 9 Moses said, "We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for z we must hold a feast to the Lord." 10 But he said to them, "The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your a little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind. 1 11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking." And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, b "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and c eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left." 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 d The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, e such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. 15 They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and f they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, g "I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. 17 Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and h plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me." 18 So i he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. 19 And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them j into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord k hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.

  1. Cross References
    Exodus 13:8
    You shall tell your son on that day, 'It is bec...
    Exodus 13:14
    And when in time to come your son asks you, 'Wh...
    Deuteronomy 4:9
    Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, ...
    Deuteronomy 6:20 - 22
    "When your son asks you in time to come, 'What ...
    Psalms 78:5 - 7
    He established a testimony in Jacob and appoint...
    Joel 1:3
    Tell your children of it, and let your children...
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 7:17
    Thus says the Lord, "By this you shall know that I am the Lord : behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.
  3. Cross References
    1 Kings 21:29
    "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house."
  4. Cross References
    Leviticus 11:22
    Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind.
    Proverbs 30:27
    The locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank.
    Joel 1:4
    What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.
    Joel 2:25
    I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
    Revelation 9:3
    Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
  5. Cross References
    Exodus 9:32
    But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.)
  6. Cross References
    Exodus 8:3
    The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.
    Exodus 8:21
    Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.
    Joel 2:9
    They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief.
  7. Cross References
    Exodus 10:24
    Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, "Go, serve the Lord ; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.
  8. Cross References
    Exodus 5:1
    Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'
    Exodus 3:18
    And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.
  9. Cross References
    Exodus 10:24
    Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, "Go, serve the Lord ; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.
  10. Cross References
    Exodus 7:19
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'
  11. Cross References
    Exodus 10:4 - 5
    For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country.
  12. Cross References
    Psalms 78:46
    He gave their crops to the destroying locust and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
    Psalms 105:34
    He spoke, and the locusts came, young locusts without number.
  13. Cross References
    Joel 2:2
    A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.
  14. Cross References
    Psalms 105:35
    Which devoured all the vegetation in their land and ate up the fruit of their ground.
  15. Cross References
    Exodus 9:27
    Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, "This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.
  16. Cross References
    Exodus 8:8
    Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.
  17. Cross References
    Exodus 8:30
    So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.
    Exodus 9:33
    So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth.
  18. Cross References
    Joel 2:20
    I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things.
  19. Cross References
    Exodus 4:21
    And the Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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