8. So Moses and Aaron were brought back to the king. He said to them, “Go and worship the Lord your God. But tell me, just who is going?”
9. Moses answered, “We will go with our young and our old people, our sons and daughters and sheep and cattle. This is because we are going to have a feast to honor the Lord.”
10. The king said to them, “The Lord really will have to be with you if ever I let you and all of your children leave Egypt. See, you are planning something evil.
11. No! Only the men may go and worship the Lord. That is what you have been asking for.” Then the king forced Moses and Aaron out of his palace.
12. The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt, and the locusts will come. They will spread all over the land of Egypt. They will eat all the plants that the hail did not destroy.”
13. So Moses raised his walking stick over the land of Egypt. And the Lord caused a strong wind to blow from the east. It blew across the land all that day and night. When morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts.
14. Swarms of locusts covered all the land of Egypt and settled everywhere. There were more locusts than ever before or after.
15. The locusts covered the whole land so that it was black. They ate everything that was left after the hail. They ate every plant in the field and all the fruit on the trees. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant anywhere in Egypt.
16. The king quickly called for Moses and Aaron. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.
17. Now forgive my sin this time. Pray to the Lord your God. Ask him to stop this punishment that kills.”
18. Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord.
19. So the Lord changed the wind. He made a very strong wind to blow from the west. It blew the locusts away into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt.
20. But the Lord caused the king to be stubborn again. And he did not let the people of Israel go.
21. Then the Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky, and darkness will cover the land of Egypt. It will be so dark you will be able to feel it.”