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. In fact, he will even chase you out.
If you don't, he will send his worst plagues to strike you, your officials, and everyone else in your country. Then you will find out that no one can oppose the Lord.
Everyone was scorched by its great heat, and all of them cursed the name of God who had power over these terrible troubles. But no one turned to God and praised him.
“What should we send?” the Philistines asked. The priests and fortunetellers answered: There are five Philistine rulers, and they all have the same disease that you have.
The Lord God told Moses: Soon you will see what I will do to the king. Because of my mighty power, he will let my people go, and he will even chase them out of his country.
At midnight the Lord killed the first-born son of every Egyptian family, from the son of the king to the son of every prisoner in jail. He also killed the first-born male of every animal that belonged to the Egyptians.