Exodus 7
New Living Translation
Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Serpent
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet. 2 Tell Aaron everything I command you, and Aaron must command Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave his country. 3 But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 5 When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”
6 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. 7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh.
8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.[a]’”
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent! 11 Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. 12 They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted.
A Plague of Blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn,[b] and he still refuses to let the people go. 15 So go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes down to the river. Stand on the bank of the Nile and meet him there. Be sure to take along the staff that turned into a snake. 16 Then announce to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Until now, you have refused to listen to him. 17 So this is what the Lord says: “I will show you that I am the Lord.” Look! I will strike the water of the Nile with this staff in my hand, and the river will turn to blood. 18 The fish in it will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’”
19 Then the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and raise your hand over the waters of Egypt—all its rivers, canals, ponds, and all the reservoirs. Turn all the water to blood. Everywhere in Egypt the water will turn to blood, even the water stored in wooden bowls and stone pots.’”
20 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood! 21 The fish in the river died, and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it. There was blood everywhere throughout the land of Egypt. 22 But again the magicians of Egypt used their magic, and they, too, turned water into blood. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted. 23 Pharaoh returned to his palace and put the whole thing out of his mind. 24 Then all the Egyptians dug along the riverbank to find drinking water, for they couldn’t drink the water from the Nile.
25 Seven days passed from the time the Lord struck the Nile.
Exodus 7
Legacy Standard Bible
7 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “(A)See, I [a]set you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother (B)Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. 3 But (C)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart with stiffness that I may (D)multiply My signs and My [b]wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But (E)Pharaoh will not listen to you. And I will [c]set My hand upon Egypt and (F)bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by (G)great judgments. 5 (H)Then the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I (I)stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” 6 So Moses and Aaron did it; (J)as Yahweh commanded them, thus they did. 7 Now Moses was (K)eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Serpent
8 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘[d](L)Work a miraculous wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘(M)Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a [e]serpent.’” 10 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as Yahweh had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and [f]his [g]servants, and it (N)became a [h]serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also (O)called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the [i](P)magicians of Egypt, did [j]the same with (Q)their secret arts. 12 And each one threw down his staff, and they became [k]serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet (R)Pharaoh’s heart was [l]hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
The Plague of Water Turning to Blood
14 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is [m]hard with firmness; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning [n]as (S)he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand (T)the staff that was turned into a serpent. 16 (U)And you shall say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “(V)Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” 17 Thus says Yahweh, “(W)By this you shall know that I am Yahweh: behold, I am about to strike [o]the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and (X)it will be turned to blood. 18 (Y)And the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will [p]become foul, and the Egyptians will (Z)be weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and (AA)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their [q]streams, and over their pools and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”
20 So Moses and Aaron did thus, as Yahweh had commanded. And he raised up [r](AB)the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and (AC)all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. 21 And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile [s]became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. 22 (AD)Yet the [t]magicians of Egypt did [u]the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was [v]hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. 23 Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even on this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. 25 And seven full days [w]passed after Yahweh had struck the Nile.
Footnotes
- Exodus 7:1 Lit give
- Exodus 7:3 Or miraculous wonders, cf. 7:9
- Exodus 7:4 Lit give
- Exodus 7:9 Lit Show a wonder for yourselves
- Exodus 7:9 Or dragon, sea monster, supernatural foe
- Exodus 7:10 Lit before his
- Exodus 7:10 Or slaves; see Foreword, “The Terminology of Slave”
- Exodus 7:10 Or dragon, sea monster, supernatural foe
- Exodus 7:11 Or soothsayer priests
- Exodus 7:11 Lit thus
- Exodus 7:12 Or dragon, sea monster, supernatural foe
- Exodus 7:13 Lit strengthened
- Exodus 7:14 Or glorified, cf. 14:4; lit heavy
- Exodus 7:15 Lit behold
- Exodus 7:17 Lit upon the waters
- Exodus 7:18 Or have a bad smell
- Exodus 7:19 Or canals
- Exodus 7:20 Lit with the staff
- Exodus 7:21 Had a bad smell
- Exodus 7:22 Or soothsayer priests
- Exodus 7:22 Lit thus
- Exodus 7:22 Lit strengthened
- Exodus 7:25 Lit were fulfilled
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