The Ten Plagues of Egypt
Ten disasters fall on Egypt in a rising sequence: the Nile turned to blood, then frogs, gnats, flies, livestock disease, boils, hail, locusts, three days of darkness, and finally the death of the firstborn. Between each, Pharaoh relents and then hardens again.
The account is structured rather than random. Several plagues strike at things Egypt held sacred — the Nile itself, the sun, the person of the king's heir — and from the fourth onward Goshen, where the Israelites live, is explicitly spared. Pharaoh's magicians reproduce the first two signs, fail at the third, and by the sixth cannot even stand before Moses because of their boils.
The negotiation is real: Pharaoh offers partial terms — sacrifice inside Egypt, then men only, then leave the flocks — and Moses refuses each. After the tenth, Egypt itself urges them out.
Where in scripture
[14] Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. [15] Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he goes out to the water; and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. [16] You shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness:” and behold, until now you haven’t listened. [17] Yahweh says, “In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold, I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. …
Exodus 7:14–25 — opening verses
[1] Yahweh spoke to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, “This is what Yahweh says, ‘Let my people go, that they may serve me. [2] If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs: [3] and the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs: [4] and the frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.’” [5] Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’” …
Exodus 8:1–32 — opening verses
[21] Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” [22] Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. [23] They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. [24] Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve Yahweh. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you.” [25] Moses said, “You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God. …
Exodus 10:21–29 — opening verses
[29] At midnight, Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of livestock. [30] Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. [31] He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said! [32] Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!”
Exodus 12:29–32
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
