Exodus 7

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.