The Ten Plagues

At the command of the Lord, Moses and Aaron appear before Pharaoh in Egypt. The first judgment occurs when Aaron stretches out his staff over the waters of Egypt, turning the river into blood so that the fish die and the water becomes undrinkable (Exodus 7:20-21). When Pharaoh refuses to let the people go, a second plague of frogs covers the land, followed by a third plague where the dust of the earth becomes gnats on man and beast (Exodus 8:6-17). The text does not say how the Egyptian magicians felt when they failed to replicate the gnats, only that they called it the finger of God.

Subsequent judgments include swarms of flies and the death of Egyptian livestock, though the livestock of Israel remains unharmed. Boils break out on humans and animals, and a severe hail strikes every herb and tree in the field (Exodus 9:6-25). Moses stretches out his hand to bring locusts that devour what remained after the hail, followed by a darkness that covers Egypt for three days, though the Israelites have light in their dwellings (Exodus 10:14-23). The text does not say the specific coordinates of where the Israelites resided, only that they were in the land of Goshen.

Before the final plague, the Israelites are instructed to strike the lintel and side posts of their doors with the blood of a lamb. At midnight, the Lord strikes all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon (Exodus 12:22-29). A great cry arises in Egypt because there is not a house where there is not one dead. Pharaoh rises up in the night and summons Moses and Aaron, commanding them and the children of Israel to depart from among his people (Exodus 12:30).