9. “Everyone, young and old,” Moses answered. “We will even take our sheep, goats, and cattle, because we want to hold a celebration in honour of the Lord.”
10. The king replied, “The Lord had better watch over you on the day I let you leave with your families! You're up to no good.
11. Do you want to worship the Lord? All right, take only the men and go.” Then Moses and Aaron were chased out of the palace.
12. The Lord told Moses, “Stretch your arm towards Egypt. Swarms of locusts will come and eat everything left by the hail.”
13. Moses held out his walking stick, and the Lord sent an east wind that blew across Egypt the rest of the day and all that night. By morning, locusts
14. were swarming everywhere. Never before had there been so many locusts in Egypt, and never again will there be so many.
15. The ground was black with locusts, and they ate everything left on the trees and in the fields. Nothing green remained in Egypt—not a tree or a plant.
16. At once the king sent for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.
17. Forgive me one more time and ask the Lord to stop these insects from killing every living plant.”
18. Moses left the palace and prayed.
19. Then the Lord sent a strong west wind that swept the locusts into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt,
20. but the Lord made the king so stubborn that he still refused to let the Israelites go.
21. The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch your arm towards the sky, and everything will be covered with darkness thick enough to touch.”
22. Moses stretched his arm towards the sky, and Egypt was covered with darkness for three days.
23. During that time, the Egyptians could not see each other or leave their homes, but there was light where the Israelites lived.
24. The king sent for Moses and told him, “Go and worship the Lord! And take your families with you. Just leave your sheep, goats, and cattle.”
25. “No!” Moses replied. “You must let us offer sacrifices to the Lord our God,
26. and we won't know which animals we will need until we get there. That's why we can't leave even one of them here.”