| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. | 1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet. |
| 2You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. | 2Tell Aaron everything I command you, and Aaron must command Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave his country. |
| 3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, | 3But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. |
| 4Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. | 4Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. |
| 5The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” | 5When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” |
| 6Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them. | 6So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them. |
| 7Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh. | 7Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh. |
| 8Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, | 8Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, |
| 9“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” | 9“Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent. ’” |
| 10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. | 10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the LORD had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent! |
| 11Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. | 11Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. |
| 12For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. | 12They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. |
| 13Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. | 13Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted. A Plague of Blood |
| 14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. | 14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, and he still refuses to let the people go. |
| 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. | 15So go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes down to the river. Stand on the bank of the Nile and meet him there. Be sure to take along the staff that turned into a snake. |
| 16And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. | 16Then announce to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Until now, you have refused to listen to him. |
| 17Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. | 17So this is what the LORD says: “I will show you that I am the LORD.” Look! I will strike the water of the Nile with this staff in my hand, and the river will turn to blood. |
| 18The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” | 18The fish in it will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’” |
| 19And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” | 19Then the LORD said to Moses: “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and raise your hand over the waters of Egypt—all its rivers, canals, ponds, and all the reservoirs. Turn all the water to blood. Everywhere in Egypt the water will turn to blood, even the water stored in wooden bowls and stone pots.’” |
| 20Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. | 20So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood! |
| 21And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. | 21The fish in the river died, and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it. There was blood everywhere throughout the land of Egypt. |
| 22But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. | 22But again the magicians of Egypt used their magic, and they, too, turned water into blood. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted. |
| 23Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. | 23Pharaoh returned to his palace and put the whole thing out of his mind. |
| 24And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. | 24Then all the Egyptians dug along the riverbank to find drinking water, for they couldn’t drink the water from the Nile. |
| 25Seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile. | 25Seven days passed from the time the LORD struck the Nile. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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