Exodus 7:8–21

Aaron’s Stick

⁸The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹“If the king demands that you prove yourselves by performing a miracle, tell Aaron to take his stick and throw it down in front of the king, and it will turn into a snake.” ¹⁰So Moses and Aaron went to the king and did as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his stick down in front of the king and his officers, and it turned into a snake. ¹¹Then the king called for his wise men and magicians, and by their magic they did the same thing. ¹²They threw down their sticks, and the sticks turned into snakes. But Aaron’s stick swallowed theirs. ¹³The king, however, remained stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

Disasters Strike Egypt

¹⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “The king is very stubborn and refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵So go and meet him in the morning when he goes down to the Nile. Take with you the stick that was turned into a snake, and wait for him on the bank of the river. ¹⁶Then say to the king, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to tell you to let his people go, so that they can worship him in the desert. But until now you have not listened. ^17*Now, Your Majesty, the Lord says that you will find out who he is by what he is going to do. Look, I am going to strike the surface of the river with this stick, and the water will be turned into blood. ¹⁸The fish will die, and the river will stink so much that the Egyptians will not be able to drink from it.’ ”

¹⁹The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to take his stick and hold it out over all the rivers, canals, and pools in Egypt. The water will become blood, and all over the land there will be blood, even in the wooden tubs and stone jars.”

²⁰Then Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the presence of the king and his officers, Aaron raised his stick and struck the surface of the river, and all the water in it was turned into blood. ²¹The fish in the river died, and it smelt so bad that the Egyptians could not drink from it. There was blood everywhere in Egypt.