⁸ Adonai told Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you saying, ‘Prove yourselves with a miracle,’ then you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, so that it may become a serpent.’”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did as Adonai had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they too, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. ¹² For each man threw down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. So he did not listen to them—just as Adonai had said.

Ten Plagues Begin: Blood

¹⁴ Then Adonai said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is coming out to the water, and stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take the staff that was transformed into a serpent in your hand. ¹⁶ You are to say to him: Adonai, God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, ‘Let My people go, so they may serve Me in the wilderness,’ and behold, you have not listened. ¹⁷ This is what Adonai says: ‘By this you will know that I am Adonai. Behold, I will strike the waters that are in the river with the staff that is in my hand, and they will be turned to blood. ¹⁸ The fish that are in the river will die, the river will become foul, and the Egyptians will hate to drink water from the Nile.”’

¹⁹ Adonai said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, over their pools and over all their ponds, so that they become blood. There will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did as Adonai commanded. He lifted up the staff and struck the waters that were in the river in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and all the waters of the Nile turned to blood. ²¹ When the fish that were in the river died, the river became so foul that the Egyptians could not drink water from the river. The blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.

²² But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them—just as Adonai had said. ²³ Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and did not even take it to heart. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink of the water from the Nile. ²⁵ Seven days were fulfilled after Adonai had struck the Nile.

^26 [a] Then Adonai said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him: This is what Adonai says: ‘Let My people go, so they may serve Me. ²⁷ If you refuse to let them go, see, I will strike all your territory with frogs. ²⁸ The river will swarm with frogs. They will go up and enter your house, into your bedroom, upon your bed, into the houses of your servants, upon your people, into your ovens, and in your kneading bowls. ²⁹ The frogs will climb up on you, your people and all your servants.’”

Frogs, Gnats, Flies

8 Then Adonai told Moses, “Say to Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals and pools, and cause frogs to come up over the land of Egypt.” ² So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. ³ But the magicians did the same with their secret arts and brought up frogs over the land of Egypt.

⁴ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to Adonai, that He would take the frogs away from me and from my people. Then I will let the people go, so they may sacrifice to Adonai.”

⁵ Moses answered Pharaoh, “Boast about me after I pray for you. When am I to pray for you, your servants and your people, that the frogs would be cut off from you and your houses, and remain only in the Nile?”

⁶ “Tomorrow,” he said.

So he said, “Let it happen according to your word, so that you may know that there is none like Adonai our God. ⁷ The frogs will depart from you, from your houses, from your servants and from your people. They will remain only in the Nile.”

⁸ After Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, Moses cried out to Adonai concerning the frogs, which He had brought upon Pharaoh. ⁹ So Adonai acted according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out in the houses, the courts and the fields. ¹⁰ They piled them together in large heaps, and the land stank.