7:1 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God 1 to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2 7:2 You are to speak 3 everything I command you, 4 and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh that he must release 5 the Israelites from his land. 7:3 But I will harden 6 Pharaoh’s heart, and although I will multiply 7 my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt, 7:4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. 8 I will reach into 9 Egypt and bring out my regiments, 10 my people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 7:5 Then 11 the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I extend my hand 12 over Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.
7:6 And Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7:7 Now Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
7:8 The Lord said 13 to Moses and Aaron, 14 7:9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do 15 a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down 16 before Pharaoh,’ it will become 17 a snake.” 7:10 When 18 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them – Aaron threw 19 down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake. 20 7:11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, 21 and the magicians 22 of Egypt by their secret arts 23 did the same thing. 7:12 Each man 24 threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 7:13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard, 25 and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
7:14 The First Blow: Water to Blood
26 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; 27 he refuses to release 28 the people. 7:15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when 29 he goes out to the water. Position yourself 30 to meet him by the edge of the Nile, 31 and take 32 in your hand the staff 33 that was turned into a snake. 7:16 Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, 34 “Release my people, that they may serve me 35 in the desert!” But until now 36 you have not listened. 37 7:17 Thus says the Lord: “By this you will know that I am the Lord: I am going to strike 38 the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood. 39 7:18 Fish 40 in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable 41 to drink water from the Nile.”’” 7:19 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters – over their rivers, over their canals, 42 over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs 43 – so that it becomes 44 blood.’ There will be blood everywhere in 45 the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.” 7:20 Moses and Aaron did so, 46 just as the Lord had commanded. Moses raised 47 the staff 48 and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes 49 of Pharaoh and his servants, 50 and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. 51 7:21 When the fish 52 that were in the Nile died, the Nile began 53 to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood 54 everywhere in the land of Egypt! 7:22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same 55 by their secret arts, and so 56 Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 57 and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron 58 – just as the Lord had predicted. 7:23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not pay any attention to this. 59 7:24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, 60 because they could not drink the water of the Nile.
7:25 The Second Blow: Frogs
61 Seven full days passed 62 after the Lord struck 63 the Nile.
