The Eighth Plague: Locusts
3[Day 19] So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what YHVH, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. 4But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow. 5They will cover the face of the land so that no one can see it. They will devour whatever is left after the hail and eat every tree that grows in your fields. 6They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and every Egyptian—something neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since the day they came into this land.’”
Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh’s presence.
7Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship YHVH their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is in ruins?”
8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship YHVH your God,” he said. “But who exactly will be going?”
9“We will go with our young and old,” Moses replied. “We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to YHVH.”
10Then Pharaoh told them, “May YHVH be with you if I ever let you go with your little ones. Clearly you are bent on evil. 11No, only the men may go and worship YHVH, since that is what you have been requesting.” And Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.