| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1So the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. | 1The LORD told Moses, "Listen! I've positioned you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. |
| 2You are to speak everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh that he must release the Israelites from his land. | 2You are to speak everything that I've commanded you, and then your brother Aaron will speak to Pharaoh, telling him to let the Israelis go out of his land. |
| 3But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and although I will multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt, | 3I'll harden Pharaoh's heart and I'll add more and more of my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. |
| 4Pharaoh will not listen to you. I will reach into Egypt and bring out my regiments, my people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. | 4When Pharaoh won't listen to you, I'll let loose my power upon Egypt. I'll bring out my tribal divisions—my people the Israelis—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. |
| 5Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I extend my hand over Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them. | 5The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand over Egypt to bring the Israelis out from among them." |
| 6And Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them. | 6Moses and Aaron did what the LORD commanded them. |
| 7Now Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh. | 7Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh. |
| 8The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, | 8Then the LORD told Moses and Aaron, |
| 9"When Pharaoh says to you, 'Do a miracle,' and you say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,' it will become a snake." | 9"When Pharaoh says to you, 'Perform a miraculous sign,' then you are to say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it in front of Pharaoh.' It will become a serpent." |
| 10When Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the LORD had commanded them--Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake. | 10So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did what the LORD had commanded them. Aaron threw his staff in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. |
| 11Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the magicians of Egypt by their secret arts did the same thing. | 11Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and sorcerers, and they—along with the Egyptian magicians—did the same thing with their secret arts. |
| 12Each man threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. | 12So each one threw down his staff and it became a serpent, but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. |
| 13Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had predicted. | 13Yet Pharaoh's heart was stubborn and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had said would happen. |
| 14The LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hard; he refuses to release the people. | 14Then the LORD told Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hard. He has refused to let the people go. |
| 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the water. Position yourself to meet him by the edge of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake. | 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he's going down to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile River and meet him. Be sure to take with you the staff that was turned into a snake. |
| 16Tell him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, "Release my people, that they may serve me in the desert!" But until now you have not listened. | 16Then say to him, 'The LORD God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you. He says, "Let my people go so they may serve me in the desert, but until now you haven't obeyed."' |
| 17Thus says the LORD: "By this you will know that I am the LORD: I am going to strike the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood. | 17"'This is what the LORD says: "This is how you'll know that I am the LORD: Right now I'm going to strike the water of the Nile River with the staff that's in my hand, and it will be turned to blood. |
| 18Fish in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile."'" | 18The fish in the Nile River will die and the river will stink. The Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile River. "'" |
| 19Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt's waters--over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs--so that it becomes blood.' There will be blood everywhere in the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers." | 19The LORD also told Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their Nile River , over their ponds, and over their reservoirs, and they'll become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in their wood and stone containers.'" |
| 20Moses and Aaron did so, just as the LORD had commanded. Moses raised the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. | 20Moses and Aaron did just what the LORD had commanded. Aaron raised his staff and struck the water in the Nile River in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and all the water in the Nile River turned to blood. |
| 21When the fish that were in the Nile died, the Nile began to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood everywhere in the land of Egypt! | 21The fish in the Nile River died and the river stank. The Egyptians were not able to drink water from the Nile River, and blood was throughout the land of Egypt. |
| 22But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts, and so Pharaoh's heart remained hard, and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron--just as the LORD had predicted. | 22But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their secret arts. Pharaoh's heart was stubborn, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. |
| 23And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not pay any attention to this. | 23Then Pharaoh turned away, went to his palace, and paid no attention to any of this. |
| 24All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the Nile. | 24All the Egyptians dug around the Nile River for water to drink because they could not drink from the water in the Nile River. |
| 25Seven full days passed after the LORD struck the Nile. | 25Seven days after the LORD had struck the Nile River, |
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