< Exodus 7 >

1 The LORD said to Moses, "Look, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Listen [carefully]. [Just like I enabled prophet to speak my messages], I will cause the king [to consider that] you are like a god, and that Aaron is like a prophet.
2 You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
You must tell everything I command you [to tell to your older] brother Aaron, and he will tell that to the king. He must tell the king to let the Israeli people leave his land.
3 I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
But I will make the king stubborn [IDM]. As a result, even though I perform many kinds of (miracles/terrifying things) [DOU] [here] in Egypt,
4 But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring forth my regiments, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
the king will not pay any attention to what you say. Then I will punish [MTY] the people of Egypt [MTY] very severely [MTY], and I will lead/bring the tribes of the Israeli people out of Egypt.
5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth my hand on Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them."
Then, when I show my great power [MTY] to the Egyptian people and bring the Israeli people out from among them, they will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].”
6 Moses and Aaron did so. As the LORD commanded them, so they did.
Aaron and Moses/I did what Yahweh told them/us to do. They/We [went and spoke to the king].
7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
At that time, Moses/I was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83 years old.
8 The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Yahweh said to Moses/me,
9 "When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Perform a miracle.' then you shall tell Aaron, 'Take your staff, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent.'"
“If the king says to you, ‘Prove [that God sent] you by performing a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Throw your stick down in front of the king, in order that it may become a snake.’”
10 Moses and Aaron went in to 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.
So Aaron and Moses/I went to the king and did what Yahweh had commanded [them/us to do]. Aaron threw his stick down in front of the king and his officials, and it became a snake.
11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their secret arts.
Then the king summoned his sorcerers and men who performed magic. They did the same thing, using their magic.
12 For they cast down every man his staff, and they became serpents: but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.
They all threw down their sticks, and they became snakes. But Aaron’s stick, [which had become a snake], swallowed up all their sticks!
13 Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them; as the LORD had spoken.
But the king continued to be stubborn [IDM], just as Yahweh had predicted, and he would not pay attention to [what Aaron and Moses/I said].
14 The LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go.
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “The king is very stubborn [IDM]. He refuses to allow [my] people to go.
15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Look, he goes out to the water; and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him; and the staff which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand.
So [tomorrow] morning, go to him as he is going down to the [Nile] River [to bathe]. Wait for him at the riverbank. [When he comes out of the water, show] him the stick, the one which became a snake.
16 You shall tell him, 'The LORD, God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness:" and look, until now you haven't listened.
Say to him, ‘Yahweh God, the one [we] Hebrews [worship], sent me to you to tell you to let my people go, in order that they may worship him in the desert. [We told you that], but you have not paid any attention to it.
17 Thus says the LORD, "In this you shall know that I am the LORD. Look, I will strike with the staff that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
[So now] Yahweh says this: “This is the way you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do]. Watch this: I am going to strike the water that is in the Nile [River] with the stick that is in my hand. [When I do that], the water will become blood (OR, [red like] blood [MTY]).
18 The fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall become foul; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink water from the river."'"
Then the fish in the Nile [River] will die, and the [water in] the river will stink, and the Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the Nile River.”’”
19 The LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'"
Yahweh said to Moses/me, “[When you are talking to the king], say to Aaron, ‘Hold your stick out [as though you were holding it] over the water in Egypt—over the rivers, the canals, the ponds, and over the pools of water, in order that [all of it] may become [red like] blood.’ When Aaron does that, there will be blood throughout Egypt, even in wooden jars and in stone jars.”
20 Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the staff, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
So Aaron and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded. As the king and his officials were watching, Aaron lifted up his stick and then struck the water in the Nile [River] with it. And all the water in the river turned [red like] blood.
21 The fish that were in the river died; and the river became foul, and the Egyptians couldn't drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.
Then all the fish died. And the water stank, with the result that the Egyptians could not drink water from the river. Everywhere in Egypt [the water] became [red like] blood.
22 The magicians of Egypt did in like manner with their secret arts; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them; as the LORD had spoken.
But the men who performed magic did the same thing using their magic. So the king remained stubborn [IDM], and he would not pay attention to what Aaron and Moses/I said, just as Yahweh had predicted.
23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he lay even this to heart.
The king turned and went back to his palace, and he did not think any more about it [IDM].
24 All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn't drink of the water of the river.
The Egyptians [HYP] dug [into the ground] near the Nile [River] to get water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.
25 Seven days were fulfilled, after the LORD had struck the river.
(One week/Seven days) passed after Yahweh caused the water in the Nile [River to become red like blood].

< Exodus 7 >