Exodus 7:1-18 ▼

1 And YHWH said to Moses, “See, I have made you God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.

2 You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he may send out the sons of Israel from his land.

3 And I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.

4 And Pharaoh will not listen to you?, and I will put My hand on Egypt and I will bring out My armies, My people, the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am YHWH when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.”

6 And Moses and Aaron did as YHWH commanded them; so they did.

7 And Moses was a son of eighty years and Aaron was a son of three and eighty years when they spoke to Pharaoh.

8 And YHWH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you?, saying, ‘Give for yourselves a wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before the face of Pharaoh,’ let it become a monster.”

10 And Moses went in—and Aaron—to Pharaoh, and they did so, as YHWH had commanded. And Aaron cast down his staff before the face of Pharaoh and before the face of his servants, and it became a monster.

11 And Pharaoh also called for the wise men and for the sorcerers; and they—the magicians of Egypt—they also did so with their secret arts.

12 And each man cast down his staff, and they became monsters, and the staff of Aaron swallowed up their staffs.

13 And the heart of Pharaoh was strengthened, and he did not listen to them, as YHWH had spoken.

14 And YHWH said to Moses, “The heart of Pharaoh is heavy; he has refused to send out. the people

15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water, and you shall stand to meet him by the edge of the River. And the staff that was turned into a serpent you shall take in your hand.

16 And you shall say to him, ‘YHWH, God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying: Send out My people that they may serve Me in the wilderness. And behold, you would not listen until now.

17 Thus says YHWH: By this you shall know that I am YHWH. Behold, I am striking with the staff that is in my hand upon the waters that are in the River, and they shall be turned to blood.

18 And the fish that are in the River shall die, and the River shall stink. And the Egyptians shall be weary to drink water from the River.’”