Exodus 11
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 11
Announcement of the Death of the Firstborn.[a] 1 The Lord said to Moses, “I will send still another plague against Pharaoh and Egypt. Afterward, he will let you go from here. He will let you leave without restrictions. In fact, he will chase you out.
2 “Therefore, tell the people that each man should ask from his neighbor and each woman should ask from her neighbor objects of silver and objects of gold.”
3 The Lord caused the people to find favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moses, too, was a man who was highly regarded in the land of Egypt, both by the ministers of Pharaoh and by the people.
4 Moses then said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Around midnight I will go forth through Egypt. 5 Every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits upon the throne all the way to the firstborn of the slaves who work at the mill,[b] even the firstborn of the animals. 6 A great lament will rise up in all the land of Egypt such as will never be repeated again. 7 But not even a dog will growl against the children of Israel, neither against humans nor animals, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 All these servants of yours will come down to me and bow down in front of me saying, “May you and all the people who follow you leave.” After that I will leave.’ ”
Moses grew angry and left Pharaoh.
9 But the Lord had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you. Therefore, I will multiply my signs in the land of Egypt.”
10 Moses and Aaron did all these signs before Pharaoh, but the Lord had so hardened the heart of Pharaoh that he would not let the children of Israel leave his land.
Footnotes
- Exodus 11:1 This decisive blow to Pharaoh will result in his expelling Israel.
- Exodus 11:5 The female slave at the mill was assigned to operate the mill in the house. Even the firstborn of the animals: because these, like the firstborn of humans, were firstfruits belonging to the divinity; see Ex 13:2.
