²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. In front of ·the king [^LPharaoh] and his officers, Aaron raised his ·walking stick [staff] and struck the water in the Nile River. So all the water in the Nile changed into blood. ²¹ The fish in the Nile died, and the river began to stink, so the Egyptians could not drink water from it. Blood was everywhere in the land of Egypt.

²² Using their ·tricks [magic arts], the ·magicians [sorcerers] of Egypt did the same thing. So the ·king was stubborn [^Lheart of Pharaoh was hardened] and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.