11:1 The LORD said to Moses: I am going to punish the king of Egypt and his people one more time. Then the king will gladly let you leave his land, so that I will stop punishing the Egyptians. He will even chase you out. |
11:2 Now go and tell my people to ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold and silver jewelry. |
11:3 So the LORD made the Egyptians greatly respect the Israelites, and everyone, including the king and his officials, considered Moses an important leader. |
11:4 Moses went to the king and said: I have come to let you know what the LORD is going to do. About midnight he will go through the land of Egypt, |
11:5 and wherever he goes, the first-born son in every family will die. Your own son will die, and so will the son of the lowest slave woman. Even the first-born males of cattle will die. |
11:6 Everywhere in Egypt there will be loud crying. Nothing like this has ever happened before or will ever happen again. |
11:7 But there won't be any need for the Israelites to cry. Things will be so quiet that not even a dog will be heard barking. Then you Egyptians will know that the LORD is good to the Israelites, even while he punishes you. |
11:8 Your leaders will come and bow down, begging me to take my people and leave your country. Then we will leave. Moses was very angry; he turned and left the king. |
11:9 What the LORD had earlier said to Moses came true. He had said, "The king of Egypt won't listen. Then I will perform even more miracles." |
11:10 So the king of Egypt saw Moses and Aaron work miracles, but the LORD made him stubbornly refuse to let the Israelites leave his country. |