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.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded^(J) them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old^(K) and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,^(L)’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”^(M)

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. ¹¹ Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers,^(N) and the Egyptian magicians^(O) also did the same things by their secret arts:^{(P) 12} Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Yet Pharaoh’s heart^(Q) became hard and he would not listen^(R) to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding;^(S) he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river.^(T) Confront him on the bank of the Nile,^(U) 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^(V) me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.^{(W) 17} This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord:^(X) With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.^{(Y) 18} The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink;^(Z) the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”^(AA)

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff^(AB) and stretch out your hand^(AC) over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels^[a] of wood and stone.”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded.^(AD) He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile,^(AE) and all the water was changed into blood.^{(AF) 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^(AG) did the same things by their secret arts,^(AH) and Pharaoh’s heart^(AI) 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. ²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water^(AJ), because they could not drink the water of the river.

The Plague of Frogs

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.