The First Plague: Waters Become Blood

¹⁴ So the Lord said to Moses: ^(A)“Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the ^(B)water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and ^(C)the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ^(D)‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, ^(E)that they may ^[a]serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord: “By this ^(F)you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and ^(G)they shall be turned ^(H)to blood. ¹⁸ And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will ^(I)loathe^[b] to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”

¹⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and ^(J)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ” ²⁰ And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he ^(K)lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the ^(L)waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians ^(M)could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

^22 (N)Then the magicians of Egypt did ^(O)so with their ^[c]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, ^(P)as the Lord had said. ²³ And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river.

¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; for ^(A)the turn of events was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His word, which the Lord had ^(B)spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:

So Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over ^(D)the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam ^(E)sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So ^(F)Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰ Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all ^(G)Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah ^(H)only.

²¹ And when ^(I)Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of ^(J)Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But ^(K)the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, ^(L)for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord, and turned back, according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam’s Gold Calves

²⁵ Then Jeroboam ^(M)built^[a] Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built ^(N)Penuel. ²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: ²⁷ If these people ^(O)go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

²⁸ Therefore the king asked advice, ^(P)made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. ^(Q)Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” ²⁹ And he set up one in ^(R)Bethel, and the other he put in ^(S)Dan. ³⁰ Now this thing became ^(T)a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. ³¹ He made ^[b]shrines on the high places, ^(U)and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

³² Jeroboam ^[c]ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like ^(V)the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. ^(W)And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. ³³ So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had ^(X)devised in his own heart. And he ^[d]ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and ^(Y)burned incense.

The Corrupt Church

¹⁸ “And to the ^[a]angel of the church in Thyatira write,

‘These things says the Son of God, ^(A)who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: ^19 (B)“I know your works, love, ^[b]service, faith, and your ^[c]patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. ²⁰ Nevertheless I have ^[d]a few things against you, because you allow ^[e]that woman ^(C)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, ^[f]to teach and seduce My servants ^(D)to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. ²¹ And I gave her time ^(E)to ^[g]repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. ²² Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of ^[h]their deeds. ²³ I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who ^(F)searches^[i] the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.

²⁴ “Now to you I say, ^[j]and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the ^(G)depths of Satan, as they say, ^(H)I ^[k]will put on you no other burden. ²⁵ But hold fast ^(I)what you have till I come. ²⁶ And he who overcomes, and keeps ^(J)My works until the end, ^(K)to him I will give power over the nations—

as I also have received from My Father; ²⁸ and I will give him ^(M)the morning star.