Exodus 7

1The LORD said to Moses, “See, I have appointed you to be as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will serve as your prophet. 2Say everything I give you to say. Then your brother Aaron will speak to Pharaoh, so that he lets the Israelites leave his land. 3As for me, I will make Pharaoh’s heart hard, and I will fill the land of Egypt with my signs and wonders. 4Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will set my hand against Egypt and, with great judgments, lead my ranks, my people the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt. 5When I reach out my hand against Egypt and lead the Israelites out from among its people, the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” 6So Moses and Aaron obeyed; they did just what the LORD told them. 7At the time they spoke to Pharaoh, Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three.

8The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9“If Pharaoh demands, ‘Prove yourselves with a wonder,’ tell Aaron to take his staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh. It will turn into a serpent.” 10Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the LORD had commanded. Aaron cast his staff to the ground before Pharaoh and his court, and it turned into a serpent. 11Pharaoh in turn called for his wise men and sorcerers, and the magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their spells. 12Every one of them threw his staff to the ground, and these too became serpents. Then Aaron’s staff swallowed theirs. 13But Pharaoh’s heart remained stubborn. He refused to listen to them, as the LORD had said he would.

14The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh is stubborn at heart and will not release the people. 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the water. Wait for him on the bank of the Nile, and have in your hand the staff that turned into a snake. 16Say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to tell you, “Release my people, so they can serve me in the wilderness.” So far, you have refused to listen. 17This is what the LORD says: “Here is how you will know that I am the LORD: I am about to strike the Nile’s water with this staff in my hand, and it will become blood. 18Its fish will die, the Nile will smell foul, and the Egyptians will be unable to stomach its water.”’”

19The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and hold out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over its branches of the Nile, its canals, its marshes, and every place where its water is collected, so that they become blood.’ Blood will be found all through the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and of stone.” 20Moses and Aaron did as the LORD had commanded. While Pharaoh and his officials watched, he lifted up the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water in the river was turned into blood. 21The Nile’s fish died and the river began to reek; the Egyptians could not drink from it. Throughout the land of Egypt there was blood. 22But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their spells, and Pharaoh’s heart stayed stubborn. He did not listen to them; it happened as the LORD had said. 23Pharaoh turned his back and went into his palace, giving no thought even to this. 24Unable to drink the water of the Nile, all the Egyptians dug around the river to find water fit to drink. 25After the LORD had struck the Nile, seven full days passed.