< Exodus 7 >
1 And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
2 Thou shalt speak all that I shall command thee; and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send away the children of Israel out of his land.
3 And I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
4 And Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth my armies, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by means of great judgments.
5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth my hand over Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from the midst of them.
6 And Moses and Aaron did so; as the Lord commanded them, so did they.
7 And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty and three years old, when they spoke unto Pharaoh.
8 And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
9 If Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Show a miracle for yourselves: then shalt thou say unto Aaron, Take thy staff and cast it down before Pharaoh; it shall become a serpent.
10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so, as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did with their secret arts in like manner.
12 And they cast down every man his staff, and they became serpents; but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staves.
13 But the heart of Pharaoh was hard, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken.
14 And the Lord said unto Moses, The heart of Pharaoh is obdurate, he refuseth to let the people go.
15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt place thyself opposite to him by the brink of the river; and the staff which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thy hand.
16 And thou shalt say unto him, The Eternal, the God of the Hebrews, hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, thou wouldst not hear, up to this time.
17 Thus hath said the Lord, By this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the staff that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loath to drink water from the river.
19 And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy staff, and stretch out thy hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, and over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, also in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.
20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord had commanded; and he lifted up [his hand] with the staff, and smote the waters that were in the river, before the eyes of Pharaoh, and before the eyes of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their secret arts: and the heart of Pharaoh remained hardened, and he did not hearken unto them; as the Lord had spoken.
23 And Pharaoh turned away and went into his house, and he did not set his heart to this thing also.
24 And all the Egyptians dug in the neighborhood of the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.
25 And full seven days elapsed, after that the Lord had smitten the river.
