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 unto Moses, See, I have made thee a 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 shalt speak all that I shall command thee; and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send away the children of Israel 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 the heart of Pharaoh, and I will 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.
And Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth my armies, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by means of 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 the Lord, when I stretch forth my hand over Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from the midst of 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 the Lord commanded them, so did they.
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 and three years old, when they spoke unto Pharaoh.
8 Yahweh said to Moses/me,
And the Lord said unto Moses and unto 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.’”
If Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Show a miracle for yourselves: then shalt thou say unto Aaron, Take thy staff and cast it down before Pharaoh; it shall 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 unto 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.
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 with their secret arts in like manner.
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 they cast down every man his staff, and they became serpents; but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staves.
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].
But the heart of Pharaoh was hard, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken.
14 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “The king is very stubborn [IDM]. He refuses to allow [my] people to go.
And the Lord said unto Moses, The heart of Pharaoh is obdurate, he refuseth 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 unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt place thyself opposite to him by the brink of the river; and the staff which was turned to a serpent shalt thou 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 shalt say unto him, The Eternal, the God of the Hebrews, hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, thou wouldst not hear, up to this time.
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 hath said the Lord, By this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the staff 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 is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loath 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 the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy staff, and stretch out thy hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, and over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, also 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 the Lord had commanded; and he lifted up [his hand] with the staff, and smote the waters that were in the river, before the eyes of Pharaoh, and before the eyes 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 was in the river died; and the river stank, 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 so with their secret arts: and the heart of Pharaoh remained hardened, and he did not hearken unto them; as the Lord 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 away and went into his house, and he did not set his heart to this thing also.
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 in the neighborhood of 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 full seven days elapsed, after that the Lord had smitten the river.
