The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  26aOnly in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

  27And Pharaoh sent and bcalled for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, c“I have sinned this time. dThe LORD is righteous, and my people and I are wicked.

  28e“Entreat1 the LORD, that there may be no more 2mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you fgo, and you shall stay no longer.”

  29So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will gspread out my hands to the LORD; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the hearth is the LORD’s.

  30“But as for you and your servants, iI know that you will not yet fear the LORD God.”

  31Now the flax and the barley were struck, jfor the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud.

  32But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are 3late crops.

  33So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and kspread out his hands to the LORD; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.

  34And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants.

  35So lthe heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the LORD had spoken by Moses.

  Exodus 10

  The Eighth Plague: Locusts

  (Joel 1:2–4)

  1Now the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; afor I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, bthat I may show these signs of Mine before him,

  2“and that cyou may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may dknow that I am the LORD.”

  3So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to ehumble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may fserve Me.

  4‘Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring glocusts into your territory.

  5‘And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and hthey shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field.

  6‘They shall ifill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’ ” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

  7Then Pharaoh’s jservants said to him, “How long shall this man be ka snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”

  8So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the LORD your God. Who are the ones that are going?”

  9And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for lwe must hold a feast to the LORD.”

  10Then he said to them, “The LORD had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you.

  11“Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the LORD, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven mout from Pharaoh’s presence.

  12Then the LORD said to Moses, n“Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and oeat every herb of the land—all that the hail has left.”

  13So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

  14And pthe locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; qpreviously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them.

  15For they rcovered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they sate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.

  16Then Pharaoh called tfor Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, u“I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.

  17“Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and ventreat1 the LORD your God, that He may take away from me this death only.”

  18So he wwent out from Pharaoh and entreated the LORD.

  19And the LORD turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them xinto the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt.

  20But the LORD yhardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.

  The Ninth Plague: Darkness

  21Then the LORD said to Moses, z“Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, 2darkness which may even be felt.”

  22So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was athick darkness in all the land of Egypt bthree days.

  23They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. cBut all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

  24Then Pharaoh called to Moses and dsaid, “Go, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your elittle ones also go with you.”

  25But Moses said, “You must also give 3us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.

  26“Our flivestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the LORD our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.”

  27But the LORD ghardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.

  28Then Pharaoh said to him, h“Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!”

  29So Moses said, “You have spoken well. iI will never see your face again.”

  Exodus 11

  Death of the Firstborn Announced

  (Ex. 3:21, 22; 12:35, 36)

  1And the LORD said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. aAfterward he will let you go from here. bWhen he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether.

  2“Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, carticles of silver and articles of gold.”

  3dAnd the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man eMoses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

  4Then Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: f‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt;

  5‘and gall the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals.

  6h‘Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, isuch as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again.

  7j‘But against none of the children of Israel kshall a dog 1move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the LORD does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’

  8“And lall these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” mThen he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

  9But the LORD said to Moses, n“Pharaoh will not heed you, so that oMy wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

  10So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; pand the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

  Exodus 12

  The Passover Instituted

  (Num. 9:1–14; Deut. 16:1–8; Ezek. 45
:21–25)

  1Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, Chronology of the Exodus

  2a“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.

  3“Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the btenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.

  4‘And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb.

  5‘Your lamb shall be cwithout1 blemish, a male 2of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

  6‘Now you shall keep it until the dfourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.

  7‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.

  8‘Then they shall eat the flesh on that enight; froasted in fire, with gunleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

  9‘Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but hroasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails.

  10i‘You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.

  11‘And thus you shall eat it: 3with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. jIt is the LORD’s Passover.

  12‘For I kwill pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and lagainst all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: mI am the LORD.

  13‘Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

  14‘So this day shall be to you na memorial; and you shall keep it as a ofeast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast pby an everlasting ordinance.

  15q‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, rthat 4person shall be 5cut off from Israel.

  16‘On the first day there shall be sa holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you.

  17‘So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for ton this same day I will have brought your 6armies uout of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.

  18v‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.

  19‘For wseven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land.

  20‘You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”

  21Then xMoses called for all the yelders of Israel and said to them, z“Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb.

  22a“And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and bstrike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.

  23c“For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the dblood on the 7lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and enot allow fthe destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.

  24“And you shall gobserve this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever.

  25“It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, hjust as He promised, that you shall keep this service.

  26i“And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’

  27“that you shall say, j‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people kbowed their heads and worshiped.

  28Then the children of Israel went away and ldid so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

  The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

  (Ex. 11:1–10)

  29mAnd it came to pass at midnight that nthe LORD 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 8in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of olivestock.

  30So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, 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.

  The Exodus

  31Then he pcalled for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, qboth you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the LORD as you have rsaid.

  32s“Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.”

  33tAnd the Egyptians uurged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.”

  34So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.

  35Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians varticles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing.

  36wAnd the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus xthey plundered the Egyptians.

  37Then ythe children of Israel journeyed from zRameses to Succoth, about asix hundred thousand men on foot, besides children.

  38A bmixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of clivestock.

  39And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because dthey were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.

  40Now the 9sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in 10Egypt was efour hundred and thirty years.

  41And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that fall the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

  42It is ga 11night of solemn observance to the LORD for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the LORD, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

  Passover Regulations

  (Gen. 17:9–14; Ex. 12:1–13)

  43And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is hthe ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it.

  44“But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have icircumcised him, then he may eat it.

  45j“A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it.

  46“In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, knor shall you break one of its bones.

  47l“All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

  48“And mwhen a stranger 12dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it.

  49n“One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.”

  50Thus all the children of Israel did; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

  51oAnd it came to pass, on that very same day, that the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Eg
ypt paccording to their armies.

  Exodus 13

  The Firstborn Consecrated

  1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

  2a“Consecrate1 to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.”

  The Feast of Unleavened Bread

  (Ex. 12:14–20)

  3And Moses said to the people: b“Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of 2bondage; for cby strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. dNo leavened bread shall be eaten.

  4e“On this day you are going out, in the month Abib.

  5“And it shall be, when the LORD fbrings you into the gland of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He hswore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, ithat you shall keep this service in this month.

  6j“Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.

  7“Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And kno leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters.

  8“And you shall ltell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.’

  9“It shall be as ma sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.

  10n“You shall therefore keep this 3ordinance in its season from year to year.

  The Law of the Firstborn

  11“And it shall be, when the LORD obrings you into the land of the pCanaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you,

  12q“that you shall 4set apart to the LORD all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the LORD’s.

  13“But revery firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons syou shall redeem.