Five plagues had already fallen upon Egypt, but Pharaoh's heart remained hardened. He refused to let the people of Israel go. Now would come the last five plagues, each more severe than the one before.

THE SIXTH PLAGUE: THE BOILS

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

"Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw it in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and turn into boils breaking out in sores on man and beast."

They took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils on man and beast.

The boils were so painful that not even the magicians could stand before Moses. Their own bodies were covered with sores, and they had no power to heal themselves, much less anyone else.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had told Moses.

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE: THE HAIL

The Lord said to Moses:

"Rise up early in the morning, present yourself to Pharaoh, and tell him: thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: let my people go. This time I will send all my plagues on you, on your servants, and on your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth."

And the Lord announced:

Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. The storm was terrible. Huge hailstones fell from the sky, mixed with lightning and thunder. The hail struck everything in the field, man, beast, and plant, broke every tree, and destroyed the wheat and the barley.

But in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel lived, no hail fell. God kept protecting his people.

Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said:

"This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord that the thunder and hail may stop, and I will let you go."

Moses went out of the city and stretched out his hands to the Lord. The thunder and hail ceased. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had stopped, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE: THE LOCUSTS

The Lord said to Moses:

"Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may come. They will cover the face of the land so that it cannot be seen, and they will eat what is left after the hail."

Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. By morning, the east wind had brought the locusts.

The locusts came up over the whole land of Egypt, a cloud so dense that it darkened the sky. There had never been so many locusts, nor would there ever be again.

They covered the face of the whole land, and the land was darkened. They ate all the vegetation and all the fruit of the trees the hail had left. Not a green thing remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

Pharaoh's servants said to him:

"How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go! Do you not yet see that Egypt is ruined?"

Pharaoh hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and said:

"I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Forgive my sin just this once, and plead with the Lord to take at least this death away from me."

Moses prayed, and the Lord sent a very strong west wind that lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left in all the territory of Egypt.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.

THE NINTH PLAGUE: THE DARKNESS

The Lord said to Moses:

"Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt."

Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven.

It was not the ordinary darkness of night. It was a darkness so dense it could be felt, so thick it seemed solid. Torches gave no light, and fires could not scatter that supernatural gloom. Egypt was plunged into absolute darkness.

But all the children of Israel had light in their homes. While Egypt sat in darkness, in Goshen there was light. The difference between God's people and the Egyptians could not have been clearer.

Pharaoh called Moses and said:

"Go, serve the Lord. Only your flocks and your herds shall stay behind."

But Moses answered:

"Our livestock shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind."

Pharaoh flew into a rage:

"Get out! And take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you shall die!"

Moses replied:

"You have spoken well. I will never see your face again."

THE TENTH PLAGUE: THE DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN

The Lord said to Moses:

"Yet one more plague I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. After that, he will let you go. About midnight I will pass through the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl at the mill, and every firstborn of the animals."

Moses announced to Pharaoh what the Lord had said: at midnight there would be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt, such as there had never been and never would be again. But against the children of Israel not even a dog would bark, so that all might know that the Lord made a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

Before this last plague, God gave special instructions to his people. Each family was to sacrifice a lamb and put its blood on the doorposts and the lintels of their houses. When the Lord passed by and saw the blood, he would pass over that house, and the firstborn would be protected.

At midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.

Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians.

It was a scene of deep sorrow. Throughout all Egypt, from Pharaoh's palace to the simplest homes, families wept for their firstborn. Egypt's pride was broken on that terrible night.

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said:

"Get up, go out from among my people, you and the children of Israel! Go, serve the Lord as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds too, and be gone. And bless me also."

The Egyptians urged the people to leave the land quickly, for they said:

"We shall all die!"

After four hundred and thirty years, after ten terrible plagues, Pharaoh finally let the people of Israel go. The God of Israel had shown his power. He was stronger than Pharaoh, stronger than all the gods of Egypt, stronger than any power on earth.

The plagues were not God's cruelty, but his justice. Egypt had enslaved God's people, killed their babies, and cruelly oppressed them for generations. God gave Pharaoh many chances to repent, and he refused them all.

And now, at last, God's people were free.