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.
The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your 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.
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 will make the king stubborn [IDM]. As a result, even though I perform many kinds of (miracles/terrifying things) [DOU] [here] in Egypt,
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and 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.
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 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 will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”
6 Aaron and Moses/I did what Yahweh told them/us to do. They/We [went and spoke to the king].
So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them.
7 At that time, Moses/I was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83 years old.
Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 Yahweh said to Moses/me,
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
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 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 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.
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 Then the king summoned his sorcerers and men who performed magic. They did the same thing, using their magic.
But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.
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!
Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up the other staffs.
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].
Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
14 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “The king is very stubborn [IDM]. He refuses to allow [my] people to go.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; 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.
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 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.
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 [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]).
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 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.”’”
The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink its water.’”
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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 The king turned and went back to his palace, and he did not think any more about it [IDM].
Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of 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.
So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.
25 (One week/Seven days) passed after Yahweh caused the water in the Nile [River to become red like blood].
And seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile.
