Exodus 7
1 And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, I have appointed you as the god of Pharaoh. And Aaron, your brother, will be your prophet.
The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
2 You will speak to him all that I command you. And he will speak to Pharaoh, so that he may release the sons of Israel from his land.
You are to speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land.
3 But I will harden his heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
4 and he will not listen to you. And I will send my hand over Egypt, and I will lead my army and my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt, through very great judgments.
Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay My hand on Egypt, and by mighty acts of judgment I will bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, who has extended my hand over Egypt, and who has led the sons of Israel from their midst.”
And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”
6 And so, Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had instructed. And so it was done.
So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them.
7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
9 “When Pharaoh will say to you, ‘Show signs,’ you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will be turned into a snake.’”
“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.”
10 And so Moses and Aaron entered to Pharaoh, and they did just as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron took the staff in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and it was turned into a snake.
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.
11 Then Pharaoh called the wise men and the sorcerers. And they also, by Egyptian incantations and certain secrets, did similarly.
But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.
12 And each one cast down their staffs, and they were turned into serpents. But the staff of Aaron devoured their staffs.
Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up the other staffs.
13 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.
Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses: “The heart of Pharaoh has been hardened; he is not willing to release the people.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.
15 Go to him in the morning; behold, he will go out to the waters. And you will stand to meet him above the bank of the river. And you will take, in your hand, the staff that was turned into a serpent.
Go to Pharaoh in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.
16 And you will say to him: ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to you, saying: Release my people in order to sacrifice to me in the desert. And even until the present time, you were not willing to listen.
Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But you have not listened until now.
17 Therefore, thus says the Lord: In this you will know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike, with the staff that is in my hand, the water of the river, and it will be turned into blood.
This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood.
18 Also, the fishes that are in the river will die, and the waters will be polluted, and the Egyptians will be afflicted when they drink the water of the river.’”
The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink its water.’”
19 The Lord also said to Moses: “Say to Aaron: ‘Take your staff; and extend your hand over the waters of Egypt, and over their rivers and streams and marshes and all the pools of waters, so that they may be turned into blood. And let there be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, as much in vessels of wood as in those of stone.’”
And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers and canals and ponds and reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”
20 And Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had instructed. And lifting up the staff, he struck the water of the river in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants. And it was turned into blood.
Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood.
21 And the fishes that were in the river died, and the river was polluted, and the Egyptians were not able to drink the water of the river, and there was blood throughout the entire land of Egypt.
The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt.
22 And the sorcerers of the Egyptians, with their incantations, did similarly. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.
But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
23 And he turned himself away, and he entered his house, neither did he apply his heart to this turn of events.
Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart.
24 Then all the Egyptians dug along the borders of the river for water to drink. For they were not able to drink from the water of the river.
So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.
25 And seven days were completed, after the Lord struck the river.
And seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile.
