First Encounter with Pharaoh

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may ^[a]hold ^(A)a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

² And Pharaoh said, ^(B)“Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, ^(C)nor will I let Israel go.”

³ So they said, ^(D)“The God of the Hebrews has ^(E)met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with ^(F)pestilence or with the sword.”

⁴ Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your ^(G)labor.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are ^(H)many now, and you make them rest from their labor!”

⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded the ^(I)taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make ^(J)brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”

¹⁰ And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ” ¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. ¹³ And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ Also the ^(K)officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were ^(L)beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.”

²⁰ Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. ^21 (M)And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made ^[b]us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Israel’s Deliverance Assured^(N)

²² So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

God Renews His Promise to Israel

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For ^(A)with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand ^(B)he will drive them out of his land.”

² And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am ^[a]the Lord. ^3 (C)I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^(D)God Almighty, but by My name ^(E)Lord^[b] I was not known to them. ^4 (F)I have also ^[c]established My covenant with them, ^(G)to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their ^[d]pilgrimage, ^(H)in which they were ^[e]strangers. ⁵ And ^(I)I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶ Therefore say to the children of Israel: ^(J)‘I am the Lord; ^(K)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will ^(L)rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with ^[f]an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷ I will ^(M)take you as My people, and ^(N)I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out ^(O)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ And I will bring you into the land which I ^(P)swore^[g] to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ” ⁹ So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; ^(Q)but they did not heed Moses, because of ^(R)anguish^[h] of spirit and cruel bondage.

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

¹² And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for ^(S)I am ^[i]of uncircumcised lips?”

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a ^(T)command^[j] for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Family of Moses and Aaron^(U)

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: ^(V)The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. ^15 (W)And the sons of Simeon were ^[k]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶ These are the names of ^(X)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven. ^17 (Y)The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. ¹⁸ And ^(Z)the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. ^19 (AA)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰ Now ^(AB)Amram took for himself ^(AC)Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him ^(AD)Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven. ^21 (AE)The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² And ^(AF)the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. ²³ Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of ^(AG)Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him ^(AH)Nadab, Abihu, ^(AI)Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²⁴ And ^(AJ)the sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and ^(AK)she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶ These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^(AL)armies.”^{[l] 27} These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, ^(AM)to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.

Aaron Is Moses’ Spokesman

²⁸ And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. ^(AN)Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, ^(AO)I am ^[m]of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”

Moses Before Pharaoh

7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you ^(A)as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be ^(B)your prophet. ² You ^(C)shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. ³ And ^(D)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and ^(E)multiply My ^(F)signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But ^(G)Pharaoh will not heed you, so ^(H)that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My ^[a]armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt ^(I)by great judgments. ⁵ And the Egyptians ^(J)shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(K)stretch out My hand on Egypt and ^(L)bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

⁶ Then Moses and Aaron ^(M)did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷ And Moses was ^(N)eighty years old and ^(O)Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod^(P)

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ^(Q)‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ^(R)‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just ^(S)as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it ^(T)became a serpent.

¹¹ But Pharaoh also ^(U)called the wise men and ^(V)the ^[b]sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also ^(W)did in like manner with their ^[c]enchantments. ¹² For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. ¹³ And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Waters Become Blood

¹⁴ So the Lord said to Moses: ^(X)“Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the ^(Y)water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and ^(Z)the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ^(AA)‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, ^(AB)that they may ^[d]serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord: “By this ^(AC)you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and ^(AD)they shall be turned ^(AE)to blood. ¹⁸ And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will ^(AF)loathe^[e] to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”

¹⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and ^(AG)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ” ²⁰ And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he ^(AH)lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the ^(AI)waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians ^(AJ)could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

^22 (AK)Then the magicians of Egypt did ^(AL)so with their ^[f]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, ^(AM)as the Lord had said. ²³ And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. ²⁵ And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.