¹⁹ But I am sure that the king of Egypt ^(A)will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand.

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

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.