Exodus 7
1 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.
And Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made thee as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
2 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.
Thou shall speak all that I command thee, and Aaron thy brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land.
3 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,
And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
4 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.
But Pharaoh will not hearken to you. And I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth my armies, my people the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
5 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].”
And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt, and bring out the sons of Israel from among them.
6 Aaron and Moses/I did what Yahweh told them/us to do. They/We [went and spoke to the king].
And Moses and Aaron did so, as Jehovah commanded them, so they did.
7 At that time, Moses/I was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83 years old.
And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
9 “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.’”
When Pharaoh shall speak to you, saying, Show a wonder for you, then thou shall say to Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent.
10 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.
And Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh. And they did so, as Jehovah had commanded, and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
11 Then the king summoned his sorcerers and men who performed magic. They did the same thing, using their magic.
Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. And they also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their enchantments.
12 They all threw down their sticks, and they became snakes. But Aaron’s stick, [which had become a snake], swallowed up all their sticks!
For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
13 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].
And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as Jehovah had spoken.
14 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “The king is very stubborn [IDM]. He refuses to allow [my] people to go.
And Jehovah said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go.
15 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.
Get thee to Pharaoh in the morning, lo, he goes out to the water, and thou shall stand by the river's edge to meet him, and the rod which was turned to a serpent thou shall take in thy hand.
16 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.
And thou shall say to him, Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. And, behold, until now thou have not hearkened.
17 [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]).
Thus says Jehovah, In this thou shall know that I am Jehovah. Behold, I will smite with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
18 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.”’”
And 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.
19 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.”
And Jehovah said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thy 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.
20 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.
And Moses and Aaron did so, as Jehovah commanded. And he lifted up the rod, and smote 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.
21 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.
And the fish that were in the river died, and the river became foul, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river. And the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 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.
And the magicians of Egypt did in like manner with their enchantments. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as Jehovah had spoken.
23 The king turned and went back to his palace, and he did not think any more about it [IDM].
And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he lay even this to heart.
24 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.
And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the river.
25 (One week/Seven days) passed after Yahweh caused the water in the Nile [River to become red like blood].
And seven days were fulfilled, after Jehovah had smitten the river.
