Again the LORD said to Moses, "Now that you are going back to Egypt, be sure to perform before the king all the miracles which I have given you the power to do. But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not let the people go.

The king, however, remained stubborn and, just as the LORD had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "The king is very stubborn and refuses to let the people go.

"But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not obey me.

So I let them go their stubborn ways and do whatever they wanted.

Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. Darkness fell over the beast's kingdom, and people bit their tongues because of their pain,

and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not turn from their evil ways.