Exodus 6:14–8:32
14 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: uThe sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. 15 vAnd the sons of Simeon were 2Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon. 16 These are the names of wthe sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven. 17 xThe sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. 18 And ythe sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. 19 zThe sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.
20 Now aAmram took for himself bJochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him cAaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven. 21 dThe sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And ethe sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23 Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of fAmminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him gNadab, Abihu, hEleazar, and Ithamar. 24 And ithe sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and jshe bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.
26 These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their karmies.” 327 These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, lto bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.
28 And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. mSpeak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”
30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, nI am 4of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”
7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you aas God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be byour prophet. 2 You cshall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. 3 And dI will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and emultiply My fsigns and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But gPharaoh will not heed you, so hthat I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My 1armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt iby great judgments. 5 And the Egyptians jshall know that I am the Lord, when I kstretch out My hand on Egypt and lbring out the children of Israel from among them.”
6 Then Moses and Aaron mdid so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. 7 And Moses was neighty years old and oAaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, p‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, q‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just ras the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it sbecame a serpent.
11 But Pharaoh also tcalled the wise men and uthe 2sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also vdid in like manner with their 3enchantments. 12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13 And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
The First Plague: Waters Become Blood
14 So the Lord said to Moses: w“Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the xwater, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and ythe rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. 16 And you shall say to him, z‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, athat they may 4serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! 17 Thus says the Lord: “By this byou shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and cthey shall be turned dto blood. 18 And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will eloathe 5to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”
19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and fstretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ” 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he glifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the hwaters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians icould not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 jThen the magicians of Egypt did kso with their 6enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, las the Lord had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. 25 And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.
8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, athat they may serve Me. 2 But if you brefuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with cfrogs. 3 So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your dbedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. 4 And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ”
5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, e‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and fthe frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 gAnd the magicians did so with their 1enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, h“Entreat 2the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people igo, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”
9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.”
10 So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that jthere is no one like the Lord our God. 11 And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”
12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses kcried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. 13 So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. 14 They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was lrelief, mhe hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
16 So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become 3lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” 17 And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and nit became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
18 Now othe magicians so worked with their 4enchantments to bring forth lice, but they pcould not. So there were lice on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is qthe 5finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s rheart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.
20 And the Lord said to Moses, s“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: t“Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 21 Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22 And in that day uI will set apart the land of vGoshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may wknow that I am the Lord in the midst of the xland. 23 I will 6make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this ysign shall be.” ’ ” 24 And the Lord did so. zThick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.
25 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”
26 And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing athe abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not 7stone us? 27 We will go bthree days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as cHe will command us.”