Exodus 7:13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
13 Pharaoh, however, hardened his heart and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had foretold.
First Plague: Water Turned into Blood.[a]
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- 7:14–12:30 After a brief preface (vv. 8–13) drawn from the Priestly source, a narrative depicting the series of ten disasters that God brings upon Pharaoh because of his stubbornness ensues. Although most of these disasters, known traditionally as the “ten plagues of Egypt,” could be interpreted as naturally occurring phenomena, they are clearly represented by the biblical authors as extraordinary events indicative of God’s intervention on behalf of Israel and as occurring exactly according to Moses’ commands. See Ps 78:43–51 and 105:27–36 for poetic versions of these plagues, which also differ significantly from the account here.
Exodus 8:15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
15 and the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”[a] Yet Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
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- 8:15 The finger of God: previously the magicians had, for the most part, been able to replicate the signs and wonders Moses performed to manifest God’s power—turning their staffs into snakes (7:11–12), turning water into blood (7:22), and producing frogs to overrun the land of Egypt (8:3). But now for the first time they are unable to compete, and confess a power greater than their own is at work. Cf. Lk 11:20.
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