The Plagues of Egypt, in the account of the book of Exodus, are ten disasters inflicted on Biblical Egypt by the God of Israel in order to convince the Pharaoh to emancipate the enslaved Israelites, each of them confronting Pharaoh and one of his Egyptian gods; they serve as "signs and marvels" given by God to answer Pharaoh's taunt that he does not know Yahweh: "The Egyptians shall know that I am the L ORD ".

God sent 10 plagues to teach Pharoah and the Egyptians lessons and ultimately as a means to rescue the children of Israel from slavery. The first 9 plagues came in three cycles of three: 1 – River Nile turns to Blood, 2 – Frogs, 3 – Lice 4 – Flies, 5 – Death of Livestock, 6 – Boils 7 – Hail, 8 – Locusts, 9 – Darkness