Êxodo 10

ARC · Chapter 10/40

1Depois disse o Senhor a Moysés: Entra a Pharaó, porque tenho aggravado o seu coração, e o coração de seus servos, para fazer estes meus signaes no meio d'elle,

2E para que contes aos ouvidos de teus filhos, e dos filhos de teus filhos, as coisas que obrei no Egypto, e os meus signaes, que tenho feito entre elles: para que saibaes que eu sou o Senhor.

3Assim foram Moysés e Aarão a Pharaó, e disseram-lhe: Assim diz o Senhor, o Deus dos hebreos: Até quando recusas humilhar-te diante de mim? deixa ir o meu povo, para que me sirva;

4Porque se ainda recusares deixar ir o meu povo, eis que trarei ámanhã gafanhotos aos teus termos,

5E cobrirão a face da terra, que a terra não se poderá ver; e elles comerão o resto do que escapou, o que vos ficou da saraiva: tambem comerão toda a arvore que vos cresce no campo;

6E encherão as tuas casas, e as casas de todos os teus servos, e as casas de todos os egypcios, quaes nunca viram teus paes, nem os paes de teus paes, desde o dia, era que elles foram sobre a terra até ao dia de hoje. E virou-se, e saiu da presença de Pharaó.

7E os servos de Pharaó disseram-lhe: Até quando este nos ha de ser por laço? deixa ir os homens, para que sirvam ao Senhor seu Deus: ainda não sabes que o Egypto está destruido?

8Então Moysés e Aarão foram levados outra vez a Pharaó, e elle disse-lhes: Ide, servi ao Senhor vosso Deus. Quaes são os que hão de ir

9E Moysés disse: Havemos de ir com os nossos meninos, e com os nossos velhos; com os nossos filhos, e com as nossas filhas, com as nossas ovelhas, e com os nossos bois havemos de ir; porque festa do Senhor temos.

10Então elle lhes disse: Seja o Senhor assim comvosco, como eu vos deixarei ir a vós e a vossos filhos: olhae que ha mal diante da vossa face.

11Não será assim: andae agora vós, varões, e servi ao Senhor; pois isso é o que pedistes. E os empuxaram da face de Pharaó.

12Então disse o Senhor a Moysés: Estende a tua mão sobre a terra do Egypto pelos gafanhotos, para que venham sobre a terra do Egypto, e comam toda a herva da terra, tudo o que deixou a saraiva.

13Então estendeu Moysés sua vara sobre a terra do Egypto, e o Senhor trouxe sobre a terra um vento oriental todo aquelle dia e toda aquella noite: e aconteceu que pela manhã o vento oriental trouxe os gafanhotos.

14E vieram os gafanhotos sobre toda a terra do Egypto, e assentaram-se sobre todos os termos do Egypto; mui graves foram; antes d'estes nunca houve taes gafanhotos, nem depois d'elles virão outros taes.

15Porque cobriram a face de toda a terra, de modo que a terra se escureceu; e comeram toda a herva da terra, e todo o fructo das arvores, que deixara a saraiva; e não ficou alguma verdura nas arvores, nem na herva do campo, em toda a terra do Egypto.

16Então Pharaó se apressou a chamar a Moysés e a Aarão, e disse: Pequei contra o Senhor vosso Deus, e contra vós

17Agora, pois, peço-vos que perdoeis o meu peccado sómente d'esta vez, e que oreis ao Senhor vosso Deus que tire de mim sómente esta morte.

18E saiu da presença de Pharaó, e orou ao Senhor.

19Então o Senhor trouxe um vento occidental fortissimo, o qual levantou os gafanhotos e os lançou no Mar Vermelho; nem ainda um gafanhoto ficou em todos os termos do Egypto.

20O Senhor, porém, endureceu o coração de Pharaó, e não deixou ir os filhos de Israel.

21Então disse o Senhor a Moysés: Estende a tua mão para o céu, e virão trevas sobre a terra do Egypto, trevas que se apalpem.

22E Moysés estendeu a sua mão para o céu, e houve trevas espessas em toda a terra do Egypto por tres dias.

23Não viu um ao outro, e ninguem se levantou do seu logar por tres dias; mas todos os filhos de Israel tinham luz em suas habitações.

24Então Pharaó chamou a Moysés, e disse: Ide, servi ao Senhor: sómente fiquem vossas ovelhas e vossas vaccas: vão tambem comvosco as vossas creanças.

25Moysés, porém, disse: Tu tambem darás em nossas mãos sacrificios e holocaustos, que offereçamos ao Senhor nosso Deus

26E tambem o nosso gado ha de ir comnosco, nem uma unha ficará; porque d'aquelle havemos de tomar, para servir ao Senhor nosso Deus: porque não sabemos com que havemos de servir ao Senhor, até que cheguemos lá

27O Senhor, porém, endureceu o coração de Pharaó, e não os quiz deixar ir.

28E disse-lhe Pharaó: Vae-te de mim, guarda-te que não mais vejas o meu rosto: porque no dia em que vires o meu rosto, morrerás.

29E disse Moysés: Bem disseste; eu nunca mais verei o teu rosto.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God sends the plagues of locusts and darkness upon Egypt; Pharaoh partially negotiates with Moses, trying to limit who could leave to worship, but continues to refuse full deliverance.

Explanation

This chapter shows Pharaoh attempting increasingly desperate and partial negotiations — first allowing only the men to go, then allowing them to go without their flocks — in an attempt to maintain some control over the Israelite people even amid Egypt's growing devastation. Moses, however, firmly insists that the entire community and all their possessions must go, with no concessions, because 'we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither' (v. 26) — a stance of faith that refuses half-measures in obedience to God. The plague of dense darkness, which lasts three days and covers the whole land except Goshen, strikes directly at the sun-god Ra, one of the chief Egyptian deities, symbolically showing that not even Egypt's most fundamental source of light and life escaped the control of the God of Israel. The final confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh in this chapter, ending with the threat of death should Moses see his face again, sets the stage for the final and most terrible plague of the next chapter.

Fun facts

  • Pharaoh's persistent refusal to fully release the people, even in the face of devastating plagues, is used theologically throughout the account as evidence that true freedom cannot be negotiated in parts or with reservations — a principle echoed in later teachings about total surrender to God.
  • The three-day plague of darkness, so dense that 'they saw not one another' (v. 23), while the Israelites had light in their dwellings, demonstrates a supernatural separation that goes beyond any simple climatic explanation, reinforcing the miraculous and deliberate character of each plague.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 10:1God explains to Moses the reason behind Pharaoh’s prolonged resistance: to multiply the signs so the story would be told for generations.
  2. Êxodo 10:2God wants this story passed down to children and grandchildren, creating a tradition of retelling what happened — a practice that later becomes central to Passover.
  3. Êxodo 10:3Moses returns to the same request as always, but this time asks directly how long Pharaoh will refuse to humble himself before God, marking the wear of the confrontation.
  4. Êxodo 10:4The threat now involves locusts, an agricultural plague well known and feared in the ancient world for being able to devastate an entire harvest in a short time.
  5. Êxodo 10:5The description exaggerates the size of the invasion to convey its severity: the locusts would cover the ground and finish off what the hail had already begun to destroy.
  6. Êxodo 10:6The threat reaches into the Egyptians’ own houses, something no generation had ever seen before; Moses leaves the audience without waiting for Pharaoh’s reply.
  7. Êxodo 10:7For the first time Pharaoh’s own advisers openly press for the people’s release, acknowledging that Egypt is already being destroyed.
  8. Êxodo 10:8Pharaoh gives in to his servants’ pressure and calls Moses and Aaron back, but still imposes a condition on who could leave, as the following dialogue shows.
  9. Êxodo 10:9Moses makes clear that the departure has to include everyone, children, the elderly, and even the animals, because it is a complete religious feast, not a partial trip.
  10. Êxodo 10:10Pharaoh refuses Moses’s demand with irony and threat, implying that he would only let go whoever he wished, and hinting at bad intentions behind the request.
  11. Êxodo 10:11Pharaoh tries to negotiate: he lets only the men go out to worship and holds the women and children back as a guarantee that the people will return. Moses refuses, because for him the departure has to be of the whole family, and it is this standoff that makes Pharaoh drive the two of them from his presence.
  12. Êxodo 10:12God commands the start of the eighth plague: locusts will devour everything left of the crops after the destruction caused by the hail.
  13. Êxodo 10:13An east wind blows for a full day and night, bringing the locusts — another case where a natural phenomenon is the means God uses to act.
  14. Êxodo 10:14The text stresses the exceptional size of this particular plague, calling it unprecedented and never repeated afterward in intensity.
  15. Êxodo 10:15The locusts literally darken the sky with their sheer number and finish destroying any vegetation still left over from the plague of hail.
  16. Êxodo 10:16Pharaoh reacts quickly this time, calling Moses and Aaron without delay and directly admitting his own sin against God and against the two brothers.
  17. Êxodo 10:17Pharaoh asks for forgiveness and intercession, but note the phrase “only this once” — a repeated pattern of repentance that lasts only as long as the plague is a bother.
  18. Êxodo 10:18Fulfilling Pharaoh’s request, Moses goes out and prays to God for the end of the plague of locusts.
  19. Êxodo 10:19A strong wind blowing in the opposite direction from before carries all the locusts into the Red Sea, ending the plague without leaving a single insect behind.
  20. Êxodo 10:20Despite the plague’s complete relief, Pharaoh goes back on his word again, and the text directly attributes the hardening of his heart at this point to God.
  21. Êxodo 10:21The expression darkness “which may be felt” describes a darkness so thick it could be sensed in the air, almost as if it could be touched, possibly amplified by a sandstorm of unusual intensity. The striking detail is that the Hebrews, in Goshen, still had normal light, reinforcing that the plague had a definite address.
  22. Êxodo 10:22Moses carries out the order, and darkness covers all of Egypt for the appointed time, preventing any normal activity during that period.
  23. Êxodo 10:23The darkness is so intense that no one can move for three whole days, except the Hebrews, who keep normal light in their homes in Goshen.
  24. Êxodo 10:24Pharaoh again tries a partial arrangement, allowing the people to go but demanding the flocks stay behind in Egypt as a kind of guarantee of return.
  25. Êxodo 10:25Moses refuses the condition, explaining that the animals themselves are needed for the sacrifices and offerings the people intend to make in the wilderness.
  26. Êxodo 10:26Moses insists that not one animal can be left behind, because they do not yet know exactly which sacrifices God will ask for until they reach the agreed place.
  27. Êxodo 10:27Once again the text attributes to God the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, as he refuses to accept Moses’s conditions.
  28. Êxodo 10:28Pharaoh threatens to kill Moses if he appears before him again, and Moses agrees, saying he will not see his face again. It is the last face-to-face conversation between the two before the final plague; from here on, communication with Pharaoh changes tone.
  29. Êxodo 10:29Moses agrees with Pharaoh’s threat, closing the door for good on any direct negotiation between the two before the final plague, told in the next chapter.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.