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 previous one.

THE SIXTH PLAGUE: THE BOILS

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: "Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt."

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

The boils were so painful that even the magicians could not stand before Moses because of them. Their own bodies were covered with sores. They had no power to heal themselves, much less to heal others.

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

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE: THE HAIL

The Lord said to Moses: "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh and say to 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. Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.'"

Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail. Fire came down to earth. The Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

The storm was terrible! Huge hailstones fell from the sky, mixed with lightning and thunder. The hail struck down everything that was in the field - man, beast, and plant. It broke every tree of the field. The wheat and barley were destroyed.

But in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, there was no hail. God continued to protect His people.

Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said: "I have sinned this time. The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord that there be no more thunder and hail, 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 and hail and thunder had ceased, 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 for the locusts. They shall cover the face of the land so that no one can see the land. They shall eat what is left to you 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. When morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts.

The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt. It was such a dense cloud of locusts 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, so that the land was darkened. They ate all the vegetation of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained on the trees or in the plants of the field through 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 understand that Egypt is ruined?"

Pharaoh quickly 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 remove this death from me."

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

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people 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, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.

It was not the ordinary darkness of night. It was a darkness so dense it could be felt, so thick it seemed solid. People could not see one another. No one rose from his place for three days.

It was as if light itself had been extinguished. Torches did not illuminate. Fires could not disperse that supernatural darkness. Egypt was plunged into absolute darkness.

But all the people of Israel had light in their dwellings. While Egypt was in darkness, in Goshen there was light! The difference between God's people and the Egyptians could not be clearer.

Pharaoh called Moses and said: "Go, serve the Lord. Only let your flocks and your herds remain."

But Moses answered: "Our livestock shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind."

Pharaoh became furious: "Get away from me! 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 plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle."

Moses said to Pharaoh: "Thus says the Lord: About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel."

But before this last plague, God gave special instructions to His people. Each family should sacrifice a lamb and put the blood on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. When the Lord passed through 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 who was 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. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead.

It was a scene of indescribable sadness. Throughout all Egypt, families mourned their firstborn. From Pharaoh's palace to the simplest houses, all suffered. Egypt's pride was broken that terrible night.

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said: "Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel! Go, serve the Lord as you have said! Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone! And bless me also!"

The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste, for they said: "We shall all be dead!"

After four hundred and thirty years, after ten terrible plagues, finally Pharaoh 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 justice. Egypt had enslaved God's people, killed their babies, cruelly oppressed them for generations. God gave Pharaoh many opportunities to repent, but he refused them all.

And now, finally, God's people were free.