Exodus 7
7Then Yahweh said to Moses, “aSee, I 1set 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 aAaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. 3“But aI will harden Pharaoh’s heart with stiffness that I may bmultiply My signs and My 1wonders in the land of Egypt. 4“But aPharaoh will not listen to you. And I will 1set My hand upon Egypt and bbring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by cgreat judgments. 5“aThen the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I bstretch out My hand against Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” 6So Moses and Aaron did it; aas Yahweh commanded them, thus they did. 7Now Moses was aeighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Serpent
8And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘1,aWork a miraculous wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘bTake your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a 2serpent.’” 10So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as Yahweh had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and 1his 2servants, and it abecame a 3serpent. 11Then Pharaoh also acalled for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the 1,bmagicians of Egypt, did 2the same with ctheir secret arts. 12And each one threw down his staff, and they became 1serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13Yet aPharaoh’s heart was 1hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
The Plague of Water Turning to Blood
14Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is 1hard with firmness; he refuses to let the people go. 15“Go to Pharaoh in the morning 1as ahe 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 bthe staff that was turned into a serpent. 16“aAnd you shall say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “bLet My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” 17‘Thus says Yahweh, “aBy this you shall know that I am Yahweh: behold, I am about to strike 1the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and bit will be turned to blood. 18“aAnd the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will 1become foul, and the Egyptians will bbe weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and astretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their 1streams, 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.’”
20So Moses and Aaron did thus, as Yahweh had commanded. And he raised up 1,athe staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and ball the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. 21And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile 1became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. 22aYet the 1magicians of Egypt did 2the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was 3hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. 23Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even on this. 24So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. 25And seven full days 1passed after Yahweh had struck the Nile.