So the time came for Jehovah to teach Pharʹaoh a lesson. Do you know how he did it? It was by bringing 10 plagues, or great troubles, on Egypt.

After many of the plagues, Pharʹaoh sent for Moses, and said: ‘Stop the plague, and I will let Israel go.’ But when the plague would stop, Pharʹaoh would change his mind. He would not let the people go. But, finally, after the 10th plague, Pharʹaoh sent the Israelites away.

Do you know each of the 10 plagues? Turn the page and let’s learn about them.

LOOK at the pictures. Each one shows a plague that Jehovah brought on Egypt. In the first picture you can see Aaron hitting the Nile River with his stick. When he did, the water in the river turned to blood. The fish died, and the river began to stink.

Next, Jehovah caused frogs to come up out of the Nile River. They were everywhere—in the ovens, the baking pans, in people’s beds—everywhere. When the frogs died the Egyptians piled them up in great heaps, and the land stank with them.

Then Aaron hit the ground with his stick, and the dust turned into gnats. These are small flying bugs that bite. The gnats were the third plague on the land of Egypt.

The rest of the plagues hurt only the Egyptians, not the Israelites. The fourth was a plague of big flies that swarmed into the houses of all the Egyptians. The fifth plague was on the animals. Many of the cattle and sheep and goats of the Egyptians died.

Next, Moses and Aaron took some ashes and threw them into the air. They caused bad sores on the people and the animals. This was the sixth plague.

After that Moses raised his hand toward the sky, and Jehovah sent thunder and hail. It was the worst hailstorm that Egypt ever had.

The eighth plague was a large swarm of locusts. Never before that time or since have there been so many locusts. They ate everything that the hail had not destroyed.

The ninth plague was of darkness. For three days thick darkness covered the land, but the Israelites had light where they were living.

Finally, God told his people to sprinkle the blood of a young goat or a young sheep on their doorposts. Then God’s angel passed over Egypt. When the angel saw the blood, he did not kill anyone in that house. But in all the houses where there was no blood on the doorposts, God’s angel killed the firstborn ones of both man and animals. This was the 10th plague.

After this last plague, Pharʹaoh told the Israelites to leave. God’s people were all ready to go, and that very night they started their march out of Egypt.