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 the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, I have appointed you as the god of Pharaoh. And Aaron, your brother, 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 will speak to him all that I command you. And he will speak to Pharaoh, so that he may release the sons of Israel from 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 his heart, and 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.
and he will not listen to you. And I will send my hand over Egypt, and I will lead my army and my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt, through very 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 will know that I am the Lord, who has extended my hand over Egypt, and who has led the sons of Israel from their midst.”
6 Aaron and Moses/I did what Yahweh told them/us to do. They/We [went and spoke to the king].
And so, Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had instructed. And so it was done.
7 At that time, Moses/I was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83 years old.
Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And 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 will say to you, ‘Show signs,’ you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will be turned into a snake.’”
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 so Moses and Aaron entered to Pharaoh, and they did just as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron took the staff in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and it was turned into a snake.
11 Then the king summoned his sorcerers and men who performed magic. They did the same thing, using their magic.
Then Pharaoh called the wise men and the sorcerers. And they also, by Egyptian incantations and certain secrets, did similarly.
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!
And each one cast down their staffs, and they were turned into serpents. But the staff of Aaron devoured their 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].
And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.
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: “The heart of Pharaoh has been hardened; he is not willing to release the people.
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 him in the morning; behold, he will go out to the waters. And you will stand to meet him above the bank of the river. And you will take, in your hand, the staff that was turned into a serpent.
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 you will say to him: ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to you, saying: Release my people in order to sacrifice to me in the desert. And even until the present time, you were not willing to listen.
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]).
Therefore, thus says the Lord: In this you will know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike, with the staff that is in my hand, the water of the river, and it will be turned into 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.”’”
Also, the fishes that are in the river will die, and the waters will be polluted, and the Egyptians will be afflicted when they drink the water of 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.”
The Lord also said to Moses: “Say to Aaron: ‘Take your staff; and extend your hand over the waters of Egypt, and over their rivers and streams and marshes and all the pools of waters, so that they may be turned into blood. And let there be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, as much in vessels of wood as in those 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 just as the Lord had instructed. And lifting up the staff, he struck the water of the river in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants. And it was turned into 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 fishes that were in the river died, and the river was polluted, and the Egyptians were not able to drink the water of the river, and there was blood throughout the entire 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 sorcerers of the Egyptians, with their incantations, did similarly. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.
23 The king turned and went back to his palace, and he did not think any more about it [IDM].
And he turned himself away, and he entered his house, neither did he apply his heart to this turn of events.
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.
Then all the Egyptians dug along the borders of the river for water to drink. For they were not able to drink from 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 completed, after the Lord struck the river.
