Exodus 7
1 And YHWH says to Moses, “See, I have given you [as] a god to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron is your prophet;
The Lord told Moses, “Look, I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
2 you speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron speaks to Pharaoh, and he has sent the sons of Israel out of his land.
You are to repeat everything that I tell you to say, and your brother Aaron must repeat it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites leave his country.
3 And I harden the heart of Pharaoh, and have multiplied My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt,
But I will give Pharaoh a stubborn attitude, and though I will perform many signs and wonders in Egypt, he won't listen to you.
4 and Pharaoh does not listen, and I have put My hand on Egypt, and have brought out My hosts, My people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments;
Then I will attack Egypt, imposing heavy punishments on them, and I will lead out by their tribes my people the Israelites.
5 and the Egyptians have known that I [am] YHWH, in My stretching out My hand against Egypt; and I have brought out the sons of Israel from their midst.”
In this way the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord—when I take action against Egypt and lead the Israelites out of the country.”
6 And Moses does—Aaron also—as YHWH commanded them; so have they done;
Moses and Aaron did exactly as the Lord had ordered.
7 and Moses [is] a son of eighty years, and Aaron [is] a son of eighty-three years, in their speaking to Pharaoh.
Moses was eighty and Aaron was eighty-three when they went and spoke to Pharaoh.
8 And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Give a wonder for yourselves; then you have said to Aaron, Take your rod and cast [it] before Pharaoh—it becomes a dragon.”
“When Pharaoh asks you, ‘Why don't you perform a miracle, then?’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your walking stick and throw it down in front of Pharaoh,’ and it will turn into a snake.”
10 And Moses goes in—Aaron also—to Pharaoh, and they do so as YHWH has commanded; and Aaron casts his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it becomes a dragon.
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had ordered. Aaron threw down his staff in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it turned into a snake.
11 And Pharaoh also calls for wise men and for sorcerers; and the enchanters of Egypt, they also, with their [enchanting] flames, do so,
But Pharaoh called in wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic arts.
12 and they each cast down his rod, and they become dragons, and the rod of Aaron swallows their rods;
Each of them threw down their walking sticks and they also turned into snakes, but Aaron's walking stick swallowed up all their walking sticks.
13 and the heart of Pharaoh is strong, and he has not listened to them, as YHWH has spoken.
But Pharaoh had a hard, stubborn attitude, and he wouldn't listen to them, as the Lord had predicted.
14 And YHWH says to Moses, “The heart of Pharaoh has been hard, he has refused to send the people away;
The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh has a stubborn attitude—he's refusing to let the people go.
15 go to Pharaoh in the morning, behold, he is going out to the water, and you have stood to meet him by the edge of the River, and the rod which was turned to a serpent you take in your hand,
So tomorrow morning go to Pharaoh as he walks down to the river. Wait to meet him on the bank of the Nile. Take with you the walking stick that turned into a snake.
16 and you have said to him: YHWH, God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, Send My people away, and they serve Me in the wilderness; and behold, you have not listened until now.
Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you, ‘Let my people go, so that they can worship me in the desert. But you have not listened up until now.
17 Thus said YHWH: By this you know that I [am] YHWH; behold, I am striking with the rod which [is] in my hand, on the waters which [are] in the River, and they have been turned to blood,
This is what the Lord is now telling you: This is how you will know that I am the Lord.’” “Watch! Using the walking stick I'm holding, I'm going to hit the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood.
18 and the fish that [are] in the River die, and the River has stunk, and the Egyptians have been wearied of drinking waters from the River.”
The fish in the Nile will die, the river will smell, and the Egyptians won't be able to drink any of its water.”
19 And YHWH says to Moses, “Say to Aaron, Take your rod, and stretch out your hand against the waters of Egypt, against their streams, against their rivers, and against their ponds, and against all their collections of waters; and they are blood—and there has been blood in all the land of Egypt, both in [vessels of] wood, and in [those of] stone.”
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your walking stick in your hand and hold it out over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers and canals and ponds and pools, so that they will turn to blood. There will be blood through all of Egypt, even in containers made of wood and stone.’”
20 And Moses and Aaron do so, as YHWH has commanded, and he lifts up [his hand] with the rod, and strikes the waters which [are] in the River, before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all the waters which [are] in the River are turned to blood,
Moses and Aaron did exactly as the Lord had ordered. While Pharaoh and all his officials watched, Aaron lifted up his walking stick and hit the water of the Nile. Immediately the whole river turned to blood!
21 and the fish which [is] in the River has died, and the River stinks, and the Egyptians have not been able to drink water from the River; and the blood is in all the land of Egypt.
The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so awful that the Egyptians could not drink its water. There was blood through all of Egypt!
22 And the enchanters of Egypt do so with their secrets, and the heart of Pharaoh is strong, and he has not listened to them, as YHWH has spoken,
But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic arts. Pharaoh maintained his stubborn attitude and he wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.
23 and Pharaoh turns and goes into his house, and has not set his heart even to this;
Pharaoh went back to his palace and didn't pay any attention to what had happened.
24 and all the Egyptians seek water all around the River to drink, for they have not been able to drink of the waters of the River.
All the Egyptians dug alongside the Nile because they couldn't drink its water.
25 And seven days are completed after YHWH’s striking the River.
Seven days went by after the Lord hit the Nile.
