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What were the ten plagues of Egypt? (Exodus 7–12)

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Short answer

The ten plagues are the judgments God sent on Egypt through Moses to force Pharaoh to free the enslaved Israelites, after Pharaoh refused "Let my people go" (Exodus 5:1). In order (Exodus 7–Exodus 12):

  1. The Nile turned to blood (Exodus 7:20)
  2. Frogs (Exodus 8:6)
  3. Gnats (or lice) (Exodus 8:17)
  4. Flies (Exodus 8:24)
  5. Death of the livestock (Exodus 9:6)
  6. Boils on people and animals (Exodus 9:10)
  7. Hail mixed with fire (Exodus 9:23)
  8. Locusts (Exodus 10:13)
  9. Darkness for three days (Exodus 10:22)
  10. Death of the firstborn (Exodus 12:29)

The tenth and final plague is the one Israel escaped by marking their doorposts with lamb's blood, the first Passover (Exodus 12:12; Exodus 12:13). After it, Pharaoh let Israel go (Exodus 12:31). God says the plagues were a judgment "on all the gods of Egypt" (Exodus 12:12), each striking at something the Egyptians revered.

Question

What were the ten plagues of Egypt? (the plagues God sent through Moses in Exodus)

Analysis

A contest with Egypt's gods

Exodus frames the plagues not as random disasters but as a direct challenge to Egypt's gods (Exodus 12:12) and a demonstration that "I am the LORD" (Exodus 7:5). The Nile, the sun, livestock, and Pharaoh's own firstborn heir were all tied to Egyptian religion and power; each plague showed the LORD's authority over what Egypt trusted. The plagues also escalate, from nuisance to devastation to death, as Pharaoh's refusals mount.

Pharaoh's hardened heart

Through the account, Pharaoh's heart is "hardened", sometimes the text says Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 8:15; Exodus 8:32), sometimes that the LORD hardened it (Exodus 9:12; Exodus 10:20). Scripture states both plainly. How the two fit together (human responsibility and divine sovereignty) is discussed in its own curated answer; the narrative simply holds them side by side without softening either.

The tenth plague and the Passover

The final plague is set apart. God gives Israel instructions the night before: each household is to kill a lamb and put its blood on the doorframe, so that the LORD will "pass over" that home (Exodus 12:7; Exodus 12:13). This becomes the founding event of the Passover feast, kept every year afterward (Exodus 12:14), and the moment Israel's slavery ends.

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

  • Exodus 5:1bsb

    After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”

  • Exodus 7:20bsb

    Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood.

  • Exodus 8:6bsb

    So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

  • Exodus 8:17bsb

    This they did, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, gnats came upon man and beast. All the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the land of Egypt.

  • Exodus 8:24bsb

    And the LORD did so. Thick swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined by swarms of flies.

  • Exodus 9:6bsb

    And the next day the LORD did just that. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.

  • Exodus 9:10bsb

    So they took soot from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on man and beast.

  • Exodus 9:23bsb

    So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.

  • Exodus 10:13bsb

    So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the LORD sent an east wind across the land. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.

  • Exodus 10:22bsb

    So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days.

  • Exodus 12:29bsb

    Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.

  • Exodus 12:12bsb

    On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

  • Exodus 12:13bsb

    The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a sign; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

  • Exodus 12:31bsb

    Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested.

  • Exodus 7:5bsb

    And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”

  • Exodus 8:15bsb

    When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, however, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

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What were the ten plagues of Egypt? (Exodus 7–12) · Bubble Bible