Exodus 7

¹The Lord said to Moses: See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.

²You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, so that he sends the sons of Israel out from his land.

³But I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

⁴And Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay my hand against Egypt and bring out my companies, my people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment.

⁵And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand over Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.

⁶Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them — so they did.

⁷Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸The Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, saying:

⁹When Pharaoh speaks to you all, saying: Give us a wonder, then you shall say to Aaron: Take your rod and throw it before Pharaoh — it will become a serpent.

¹⁰So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

¹¹And Pharaoh also summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also — the magicians of Egypt — did the same with their secret arts.

¹²Each one threw down his staff, and they became serpents. But the staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs.

¹³And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as YHWH had spoken.

¹⁴And the Lord said to Moses: The heart of Pharaoh is heavy; he has refused to let the people go.

¹⁵Go to Pharaoh in the morning — behold, he is going out to the water — and you shall station yourself to meet him at the bank of the Nile, and the staff that was turned into a serpent you shall take in your hand.

¹⁶And you shall say to him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying: Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness — and behold, you have not listened until now.

¹⁷Thus says YHWH: By this you shall know that I am YHWH — behold, I am about to strike with the staff that is in my hand upon the water that is in the Nile, and it will be turned to blood.

¹⁸And the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will weary themselves to drink water from the Nile.

¹⁹And the Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron, Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over every pool of their waters, so that they become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, in wood and in stone.

²⁰And Moses and Aaron did so, just as YHWH had commanded; and he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood.

²¹And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

²²And the magicians of Egypt did likewise by their secret arts, and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had spoken.

²³And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even on this.

²⁴And all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink from the waters of the Nile.

²⁵And seven days were fulfilled after the LORD struck the Nile.