Exodus 11 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Yahweh had said to Moses, "I have one more devastating blow to bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he'll let you go — he won't just let you go, he'll actually drive you out completely."

"Tell the people — every man should ask his neighbor, and every woman should ask her neighbor — for silver and gold jewelry."

Yahweh had made the Egyptians look favorably on the Israelites. And Moses himself had become a hugely respected figure in Egypt — both among Pharaoh's officials and among the ordinary people.

Moses said, "This is what Yahweh says: 'Around midnight, I will go through the middle of Egypt.'"

"Every firstborn son in Egypt will die — from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on the throne, all the way down to the firstborn of the slave woman grinding at the mill, and even the firstborn of the livestock."

"There will be a cry of anguish across all of Egypt unlike anything that has ever been heard before, and unlike anything that will ever be heard again."

"But among the Israelites, not even a dog will bark at anyone — whether at a person or an animal. That's how you'll know that Yahweh makes a clear distinction between Egypt and Israel."

"Then all these officials of yours will come to me, bow down before me, and beg, 'Leave! You and all the people who follow you!' And after that — I will leave." Then Moses, burning with anger, walked out of Pharaoh's presence.

Yahweh had told Moses, "Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you — so that my acts of power will multiply in Egypt."

Moses and Aaron had performed all these acts of power in front of Pharaoh, but Yahweh had made Pharaoh's heart unyielding, and he would not let the Israelites leave his country.