Moses announced that about midnight the LORD would go out in Egypt and every firstborn in the land would die. The message includes firstborn in Pharaoh’s house, firstborn of servants, and firstborn of livestock. The announcement sets the time and scope of the coming strike (Exodus 11:4-5).
In Exodus 11:4–5, Moses announces a final, time-marked blow against Egypt. He reports Yahweh’s words that around midnight Yahweh will move through Egypt, and death will strike every firstborn. This speech comes at the climax of the plague narrative, after repeated confrontations in which Pharaoh refuses to release Israel. The passage is framed as Moses relaying Yahweh’s direct message, giving the coming event both authority and certainty.
These verses present Moses as a messenger, not an independent voice: he relays “what Yahweh says.” The announcement is time-marked (“about midnight”) and describes Yahweh entering “the midst of Egypt,” followed by a single, sweeping result: the death of “all the firstborn” in Egypt. The text also stresses total reach across society.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Exodus 11:4-5, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
4Moses said, "This is what Yahweh says: `About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt,
5and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maid-servant who is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of cattle.