<P> The Plagues of Egypt (Hebrew: מכות מצרים, Makot Mitzrayim), also called the ten biblical plagues, were ten calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, God inflicted upon Egypt as a demonstration of power, after which the Pharaoh conceded to Moses' demands to let the enslaved Israelites go into the wilderness to make sacrifices . God repeatedly hardened the Pharaoh's heart to prevent him from consenting until after the tenth plague . The Israelites' eventual departure began the Exodus of the Hebrew people . </P> <P> The plagues served to contrast the power of the God of Israel with the Egyptian gods, invalidating them . Some commentators have associated several of the plagues with judgment on specific gods associated with the Nile, fertility and natural phenomena . According to Exodus 12: 12, all the gods of Egypt would be judged through the tenth and final plague: "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt . I am the LORD ." </P> <P> The reason for the plagues appears to be twofold: to answer Pharaoh's taunt, "Who (is) the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?", and to indelibly impress the Israelites with God's power as an object lesson for all time, which was also meant to become known "throughout the world". </P>

The meaning of the 10 plagues of egypt