Exodus 7
1 Yahweh said to Moses, “See, I have made you like a god to Pharaoh. Aaron your brother will 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 will say everything that I command you to say. Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh so that he will let the people of Israel go from 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 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and I will display many signs of my power, many 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, so I will put my hand on Egypt and bring out my groups of fighting men, my people, the descendants of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of punishment.
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 will know that I am Yahweh when I reach out with my hand on Egypt and bring out the Israelites 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; they did just as Yahweh commanded them.
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 Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron,
Yahweh said to Moses/me,
9 “When Pharaoh says to you, 'Do a miracle,' then you will say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, so that it may become a snake.'”
“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 Then Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and they did just as Yahweh had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a snake.
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 his wise men and sorcerers. They did the same thing by their magic.
Then the king summoned his sorcerers and men who performed magic. They did the same thing, using their magic.
12 Each man threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their snakes.
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, just as Yahweh had foretold.
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 Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hard, and 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 when he goes out to the water. Stand on the riverbank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that had turned into a snake.
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 Say to him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, “Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. Until now you have not 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 Yahweh says this: “By this you will know that I am Yahweh. I am going to strike the water of the Nile River with the staff that is in my hand, and the river will 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 will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able 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 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and reach out with your hand over the waters of Egypt, and over their rivers, streams, pools, and all their ponds, so that their water may become blood. Do this so that there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in containers of wood and 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 as Yahweh commanded. Aaron raised the staff and struck the water in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants. All the water in the river 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 in the river died, and the river began to stink. The Egyptians could not drink water from the river, and the blood was everywhere in 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 But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their magic. So Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as Yahweh had said would happen.
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 Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not even pay attention to this.
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, but they could not drink the water of the river itself.
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 passed after Yahweh had attacked the river.
(One week/Seven days) passed after Yahweh caused the water in the Nile [River to become red like blood].
