11 because evil people are cowards condemned by their own consciences, and whatever they fear becomes even more frightening.
12 Fear takes over when people stop reasoning.
13 They no longer think straight, and their only hope is to deny the real source of their problems.
14 Night itself is powerless, since it comes from the powerless world of the dead. And yet the Egyptians slept restlessly on that night,
15 because of the horrible and unexpected nightmares brought on by the surrender of their souls to the forces of evil.
16-17 Every one of the Egyptians—including farmers and shepherds—fell prisoner to the fear of a darkness that was more difficult to escape than iron chains.
18-19 The slightest noise made them paralyzed with fear—the songs of birds in the trees, the rhythm of rushing water, the surprising crash of a rock, the hoofbeats of animals jumping about, the roar of lions, or even an echo in the mountains.