18. Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.
19. So the Lord changed the wind. He made a very strong wind blow from the west, and it blew the locusts out of Egypt and into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left in Egypt!
20. But the Lord caused Pharaoh to be stubborn again, and Pharaoh did not let the Israelites go.
21. Then the Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand into the air and darkness will cover Egypt. It will be so dark you can feel it!”
22. So Moses raised his hand into the air and a cloud of darkness covered Egypt. The darkness stayed in Egypt for three days.
23. None of the people could see each other, and no one got up to go any place for three days. But there was light in all the places where the Israelites lived.
24. Again Pharaoh called for Moses. He said, “Go and worship the Lord! You can take your children with you. But you must leave your sheep and cattle here.”
25. Moses said, “No, we will take them all. In fact, you will give us offerings and sacrifices for us to use in worshiping the Lord our God.
26. Yes, we will take our animals with us to worship the Lord our God. Not one hoof will be left behind. We don’t know yet exactly what we will need to worship the Lord. We will learn that only when we get there.”
27. The Lord made Pharaoh stubborn again, so he refused to let them go.
28. Then Pharaoh told Moses, “Get out of here. I don’t want you to come here again. The next time you come to see me, you will die!”
29. Then Moses told Pharaoh, “You are right about one thing. I will not come to see you again.”