The Egyptian Cattle Slain
Pharaoh still refuses to release the Israelites. In turn, the Lord brings a great plague upon Egypt's livestock; although oxen, sheep, goats, and horses lie dead, not a single animal has died from among the Israelite flocks. (Exodus 9:1–7)
Hail and Locusts
Again the king stubbornly ignores Moses' predictions of the Lord's wrath. Now the whole of Egypt suffers as lightning strikes the earth and hailstones hurtle from the sky, crushing trees, man, and beast. What little plant life is left is consumed by a voracious plague of locusts. Still, Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelites leave. (Exodus 9:23–26, Exodus 10:12–19)
Passover
The Lord vows to afflict Egypt with a final, most terrible plague: at midnight, the Lord will enter the land to kill the first-born sons of man and beast. Moses explains the Lord's instructions to the Israelites: take a lamb, and with its blood mark the door of every home. Seeing this sign, the Lord will pass over you, and keep you safe. Accordingly, one of the Israelites paints a 't' cross above his door with a pen. At midnight, before the unmarked door of an Egyptian house, the Lord arrives in the form of an angel of Death and begins the slaughter. (Exodus 12: 21–29)
Deliverance
The Lord has slain all of Egypt's firstborn, from the son of Pharaoh to the first-born of cattle. The king, broken, summons Moses and Aaron. Gather your herds and all of your possessions, Pharaoh commands, and depart from Egypt forever. The Israelites depart bearing sacks of unleavened dough. Note that in this miniature a woman holds in her arms a child with a halo and that the people are preceded by a floating column. The child and column are creative allusions to the biblical text; the haloed child reflects the Lord's command to consecrate every first-born male, and the column is a literal interpretation of the pillar of fire that was provided by the Lord to guide the Israelites at night. (Exodus 12:37–13:21)
Source: The Morgan Library
