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The First-Born Die

¹ The Lord said to Moses, "I will bring trouble upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt one more time. After that he will let you go. He will not only let you go, but he will make you leave. ² Tell the people that each man should ask his neighbor and each woman ask her neighbor for things made of silver and gold." ³ Then the Lord gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. And the man Moses was respected in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of Pharaoh's servants and the people.

⁴ Moses said, "The Lord says this: ‘About midnight I will go through Egypt. ⁵ And all the first-born in the land of Egypt will die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the first-born of the servant girl grinding the grain, and even the first-born of the cattle. ⁶ There will be loud crying in all the land of Egypt, more than has ever been heard before or will ever be heard again. ⁷ Not even a dog will make a sound against those of Israel, man or animal, so you may know that the Lord divides Egypt from Israel.' ⁸ All these who are your servants will come to me and bow in front of me. They will say, ‘Go away, you and all the people who follow you.' After that I will go." And he went away from Pharaoh very angry. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh will not listen to you. So I will do more powerful works in the land of Egypt." ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these great works in front of Pharaoh. But the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard. He did not let the people of Israel leave his land.