< Exodus 7 >

1 And the Lord said to Moses: Behold I have appointed thee the God of Pharao: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
2 Thou shalt speak to him all that I command thee; and he shall speak to Pharao, that he let the children of Israel go out of 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 shall harden his heart, and shall 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 hear you: and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and will bring forth my army and my people the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, by 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 shall know that I am the Lord, who have stretched forth my hand upon Egypt, and have brought forth the children of Israel out of the midst of them.
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 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded: so did they.
So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them.
7 And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharao.
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 Pharao shall say to you, Shew signs: thou shalt say to Aaron: Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharao, and it shall be turned into a serpent.
“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 So Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharao, and did as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron took the rod before Pharao, and his servants, and it was turned into a serpent.
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 And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians: and they also by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets did in like manner.
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 they every one cast down their rods, and they were turned into serpents: but Aaron’s rod devoured their rods.
Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up the other staffs.
13 And Pharao’s heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord had commanded.
Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
14 And the Lord said to Moses: Pharao’s heart is hardened, he will not let the people go.
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 thou shalt stand to meet him on the bank of the river: and thou shalt take in thy hand the rod 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 thou shalt say to him: The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to thee saying: Let my people go to sacrifice to me in the desert: and hitherto thou wouldst not hear.
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 Thus therefore saith the Lord: In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold I will strike with the rods that is in my hand, the water of the river, and it shall 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 And the fishes that are in the river shall die, and the waters shall be corrupted, and the Egyptians shall 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 thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand upon the waters of Egypt, and upon their rivers, and streams and pools, and all the ponds of waters, that they may be turned into blood: and let blood be in all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and 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 as the Lord had commanded: and lifting up the rod he struck the water of the river before Pharao 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 corrupted, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river, and there was blood in all the 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 magicians of the Egyptians with their enchantments did in like manner: and Pharao’s heart was hardened, neither did he hear them, as the Lord had commanded.
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 went into his house, neither did he set his heart to it this time also.
Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart.
24 And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink: for they could not drink of 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 fully ended, after that the Lord struck the river.
And seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile.

< Exodus 7 >