God Commands Moses and Aaron

1The LORD {YHWH} answered Moses (drawn out), “See, I have made you like God {Elohim} to Pharaoh (great house), and your brother Aaron (light bringer) will be your prophet. 2You are to speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron (light bringer) is to tell Pharaoh (great house) to let the Israelites (God prevails) go out of his land.

3But I will harden Pharaoh’s (great house) heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt (land of bondage), 4Pharaoh (great house) will not listen to you⁺.

Then I will lay My hand on Egypt (land of bondage), and by mighty acts of judgment I will bring the divisions of My people the Israelites (God prevails) out of the land of Egypt. 5And the Egyptians (double straits) will know that I am the LORD {YHWH}, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt (land of bondage) and bring the Israelites (God prevails) out from among them.”

6So Moses (drawn out) and Aaron (light bringer) did just as the LORD {YHWH} had commanded them. 7Moses (drawn out) was eighty years old and Aaron (light bringer) was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh (great house).

Aaron’s Staff

8The LORD {YHWH} said to Moses (drawn out) and Aaron (light bringer), 9“When Pharaoh (great house) tells you⁺, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron (light bringer), ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent {tannin}.a”

10So Moses (drawn out) and Aaron (light bringer) went to Pharaoh (great house) and did just as the LORD {YHWH} had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

11But Pharaoh (great house) called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt (land of bondage), and they also did the same things by their magic arts. 12Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s (light bringer) staff swallowed up the other staffs.

13Still, Pharaoh’s (great house) heart was hardened (stiffened),b and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD {YHWH} had said.

The First Plague: Blood

14Then the LORD {YHWH} said to Moses (drawn out), “Pharaoh’s (great house) heart is unyielding (heavy);c he refuses to let the people go. 15Go to Pharaoh (great house) in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God {YHWH Elohe} of the Hebrews (those from beyond), has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. 17This is what the LORD {YHWH} says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood. 18The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians (double straits) will be unable to drink its water.’”

19And the LORD {YHWH} said to Moses (drawn out), “Tell Aaron (light bringer), ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt (land of bondage)—over their rivers and canals and ponds and all the reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”

20Moses (drawn out) and Aaron (light bringer) did just as the LORD {YHWH} had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh (great house) and his officials, Aaron raised the staff \he raised the staff/d and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood. 21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians (double straits) could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt (land of bondage).

22But the magicians of Egypt (land of bondage) did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s (great house) heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD {YHWH} had said. 23Instead, Pharaoh (great house) turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart. 24So all the Egyptians (double straits) dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.

25And seven full days passed after the LORD {YHWH} had struck the Nile.