Exodus 7

“I Will Stretch Out My Hand”

1Then the Lord said to Moses, “1See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother 2Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. 3But 3I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may 4multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4When 5Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and 6bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by 7great judgments. 58The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I 9stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” 6So Moses and Aaron did it; 10as the Lord commanded them, thus they did. 7Moses was 11eighty years old and Aaron 12eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Serpent

8Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘1314Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘15Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 10So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and 16his servants, and it 17became a serpent. 11Then Pharaoh also 18called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the 1920magicians of Egypt, did 21the same with 22their secret arts. 12For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13Yet 23Pharaoh’s heart was 24hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Water Is Turned to Blood

14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is 25stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning 26as 27he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand 28the staff that was turned into a serpent. 1629You shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “30Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” 17Thus says the Lord, “31By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike 32the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and 33it will be turned to blood. 1834The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will 35become foul, and the Egyptians will 3637find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and 38stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their 39streams, and over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

20So Moses and Aaron did even as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up 4041the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and 42all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. 21The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile 43became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. 2244But the 45magicians of Egypt did 46the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was 47hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house 48with no concern even for this. 24So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. 25Seven days 49passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.