Aaron to Speak for Moses

²⁸ Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, ²⁹ he said to him, “I am the Lord.^(A) Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

³⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips,^(B) why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God^(A) to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.^{(B) 2} You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. ³ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,^(C) and though I multiply my signs and wonders^(D) in Egypt, ⁴ he will not listen^(E) to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment^(F) I will bring out my divisions,^(G) my people the Israelites. ⁵ And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord^(H) when I stretch out my hand^(I) against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

The Plague of Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding;^(A) he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river.^(B) Confront him on the bank of the Nile,^(C) and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. ¹⁶ Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship^(D) me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.^{(E) 17} This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord:^(F) With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.^{(G) 18} The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink;^(H) the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”^(I)

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded.^(A) He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile,^(B) and all the water was changed into blood.^{(C) 21} The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

²² But the Egyptian magicians^(D) did the same things by their secret arts,^(E) and Pharaoh’s heart^(F) became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. ²³ Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart.

The Plague of Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff^(A) and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.” ¹⁷ They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats^(B) came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. ¹⁸ But when the magicians^(C) tried to produce gnats by their secret arts,^(D) they could not.

Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, ¹⁹ the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger^(E) of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart^(F) was hard and he would not listen,^(G) just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Hail

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship^(A) me, ¹⁴ or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know^(B) that there is no one like^(C) me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people^(D) with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. ¹⁶ But I have raised you up^[a] for this very purpose,^(E) that I might show you my power^(F) and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. ¹⁷ You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. ¹⁸ Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm^(G) that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.^(H)

²⁵ Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree.^{(A) 26} The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen,^(B) where the Israelites were.^(C)

²⁷ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,”^(D) he said to them. “The Lord is in the right,^(E) and I and my people are in the wrong. ²⁸ Pray^(F) to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go;^(G) you don’t have to stay any longer.”

³³ Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. ³⁴ When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts.

The Plague of Locusts

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart^(A) and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs^(B) of mine among them ² that you may tell your children^(C) and grandchildren how I dealt harshly^(D) with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.”^(E)

³ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble^(F) yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ⁴ If you refuse^(G) to let them go, I will bring locusts^(H) into your country tomorrow. ⁵ They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left^(I) after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields.^(J)