Verses 1-6 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh; for I have made his heart stubborn, and the heart of his servants, in order that I may set these My signs in the midst of him; and in order that you may tell in the ears of your son and your son's son the deeds which I have performed in Egypt, and My signs which I have set among them, and that you may know that I am Jehovah. And Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, Thus says Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, How long do you refuse to humble yourself^a before Me? Send My people away, and let them serve Me. For if you refuse to send My people away, behold, tomorrow I am bringing locusts into your border. And they will cover the surface of the land, and one will not be able to see the land; and they will devour the residue of what escaped and was left to you from the hail, and will devour every tree growing up for you out of the field. And your houses will be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians - which^b your fathers and your fathers' fathers have not seen, from the day they have been on the ground even to this day. And he looked away and went out from Pharaoh.

'And Jehovah said to Moses' means a command. 'Go to Pharaoh' means the presence of the truth from God with the molesting ones. 'For I have made his heart stubborn, and the heart of his servants' means that they remained obstinate, all in common with one another. 'In order that I may set these My signs in the midst of him' means in order that the evil may recognize that they are ruled by evil, and the good may be enlightened regarding the state of those within the Church who lead an evil life. 'And in order that you may tell in the ears of your son and your son's son the deeds which I have performed in Egypt' means in order that those guided by truth and governed by good may know what happens to the ones belonging to the Church who molest the upright. 'And My signs which I have set among them' means in order that they may be enlightened regarding the state of those belonging to the Church who lead an evil life. 'And that you may know that I am Jehovah' means in order that it may thereby be made known to them that the Lord is the only God. 'And Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh' means the presence of God's truth. 'And said to him' means discernment. 'Thus says Jehovah the God of the Hebrews' means a command from the Lord who is the God of the Church. 'How long do you refuse to humble yourself before Me?' means disobedience. 'Send My people away, and let them serve Me' means that they should leave those who belong to the spiritual Church, in order that these may worship the Lord. 'For if you refuse to send them away means should they fail to leave ... 'Behold, I am bringing locusts into your border' means that falsity will take possession of their outermost parts. 'And they will cover the surface of the land' means the lowest levels of the natural mind. 'And one will not be able to see the land' means a darkening of the whole natural mind as a result. 'And they will devour the residue of what escaped and was left to you from the hail' means the consumption of all things that have any element of truth in them. 'And will devour every tree growing up for you out of the field' means thus the consumption of all the religious knowledge that they get from the Church. 'And your houses will be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians' means that falsity will reign in every single thing in the natural from the inner part of it to the outermost. 'Which your fathers and your fathers' fathers have not seen, from the day they have been on the ground even to this day' means that since ancient times no such falsity had existed in the Church as existed there now. 'And he looked away and went out from Pharaoh' means deprivation of discernment, and separation.

Notes