Exodus 7–8

7The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. ²You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land. ³But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart ^band multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put My hand on Egypt and bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. ⁵The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh ^cwhen I stretch out My hand ^dagainst Egypt, and bring out the Israelites from among them.”

⁶So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷Moses was 80 years old ^eand Aaron 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.’ ” ^f10So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. ¹¹But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers—the magicians ^gof Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices. ^h12Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. ¹³However, Pharaoh’s heart hardened, ⁱand he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

¹⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard: he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake. ^j16Tell him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship ^kMe in the wilderness, but so far you have not listened. ¹⁷This is what Yahweh says: Here is how you will know that I am Yahweh. Watch. I will strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood. ¹⁸The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it.”

¹⁹So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand ^lover the waters of Egypt—over their rivers, canals, ^mponds, and all their water reservoirs—and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”

²⁰Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood. ⁿ²¹The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt.

²²But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. ²³Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn’t even take this to heart. ²⁴All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink the water from the river. ²⁵Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

The Second Plague: Frogs

8^oThen the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what Yahweh says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. ^p2But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your territory with frogs. ^q3The Nile will swarm with frogs; they will come up and go into your palace, into your bedroom and on your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls. ⁴The frogs will come up on you, your people, and all your officials.”

^5rThe Lord then said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.” ^s6When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs ^tcame up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

⁸Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Ask ^uYahweh to remove the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let the people go and they can sacrifice to Yahweh.”

⁹Moses said to Pharaoh, “You make the choice rather than me. When should I ask on behalf of you, your officials, and your people, that the frogs be taken away from you and your houses, and remain only in the Nile?”

¹⁰“Tomorrow,” he answered.

Moses replied, “As you have said, so you may know there is no one like Yahweh our God, ^v11the frogs will go away from you, your houses, your officials, and your people. The frogs will remain only in the Nile.” ¹²After Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord for help concerning the frogs that He had brought against ^wPharaoh. ¹³The Lord did as Moses had said: the frogs in the houses, courtyards, and fields died. ¹⁴They piled them in countless heaps, and there was a terrible odor in the land. ¹⁵But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart ^xand would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The Third Plague: Gnats

¹⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, and it will become gnats ^ythroughout the land of Egypt.” ¹⁷And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the earth, gnats were on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. ¹⁸The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on man and beast. ^z

¹⁹“This is the finger of God,” ^athe magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The Fourth Plague: Swarms of Flies

²⁰The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh when you see him going out to the water. Tell him: This is what Yahweh says: Let My people go, so that they may worship ^bMe. ^c21But if you will not let My people go, then I will send swarms of flies ^dagainst you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians’ houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live. ^e22But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people are living; ^fno flies will be there. This way you will know that I, Yahweh, am in the land. ²³I will make a distinction ^gbetween My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.”

²⁴And the Lord did this. Thick swarms of flies went into Pharaoh’s palace and his officials’ houses. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies. ^h25Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go sacrifice to your God within the country.”

²⁶But Moses said, “It would not be right ⁱto do that, because what we will sacrifice to the Lord our God is detestable to the Egyptians. ^jIf we sacrifice what the Egyptians detest in front of them, won’t they stone us? ²⁷We must go a distance of three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He instructs us.”

²⁸Pharaoh responded, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but don’t go very far. Make an appeal ^kfor me.”

²⁹“As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will appeal to the Lord, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceptively again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the Lord.” ³⁰Then Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the Lord. ³¹The Lord did as Moses had said: He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people; not one was left. ³²But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go.