Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will strike us with plague or with the sword.”

But he said, “You are lazy, very lazy; for that reason you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’

And they said to them, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you, because you have made us repulsive in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”

Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me?

God Promises Action

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord;

and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them.

Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the labors of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments.

Then I will take you as My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the labors of the Egyptians.

I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession; I am the Lord.’”

Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am unskilled in speech?”

Nevertheless, the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command concerning the sons of Israel and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their multitudes.”

Now it came about on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord; say to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

I Will Extend My Hand

Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.

Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I extend My hand over Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.”

So Moses and Aaron did this; as the Lord commanded them, so they did.

Aaron’s Staff Turns into a Serpent

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and so they did, just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it turned into a serpent.

Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Water Turned into Blood

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go.

And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened up to now.”