Exodus 7

₁Then the Lord said to Moses: ‘Your brother Aaron must say everything that you tell him, like a prophet who says everything that God tells him. ₂You must tell your brother Aaron everything that I say to you. He must speak to Pharaoh and tell him that he must let the Israelites go out of his land. ₃But I will make Pharaoh stubborn so that I can do a lot of miracles and signs in Egypt. ₄Pharaoh will not listen to you. I will punish the Egyptians very hard and I will bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. ₅The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. They will know it when I punish them and bring the Israelites out of Egypt.’

₆Moses and Aaron did everything that God told them to do. ₇Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 years old when they went to talk to Pharaoh.

₈The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ₉‘When Pharaoh tells you to do a miracle or sign, then you must say to Aaron: “Take your staff and throw it on the ground before Pharaoh.” The staff will change into a snake.’

₁₀Then Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and they did what God had told them. Aaron threw his staff on the ground before Pharaoh and his officials and it changed into a snake. ₁₁Pharaoh called his wise men and magicians of Egypt and they did the same. ₁₂Each one of them threw his staff on the ground and it changed into a snake. But Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs and ate them. ₁₃Pharaoh did not change. He stayed stubborn and he did not listen to Moses and Aaron. It was like God had said.

₁₄The Lord said to Moses: ‘Pharaoh is very stubborn. He does not want to let the Israelites go. ₁₅Tomorrow morning Pharaoh will go to the river. Wait for him at the side of the river. Take the staff, that changed into a snake, in your hand. ₁₆Then say to Pharaoh: “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to tell you to let his people go so that they can worship Him in the desert. But until now you have not listened to Him. ₁₇Now the Lord says He will do something so that you know He is the Lord. I will hit the water of the Nile River with this staff in my hand and then the water will change into blood. ₁₈The fish in the Nile River will die and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the Nile River.” ’

₁₉The Lord also said to Moses: ‘Tell Aaron he must take his staff and put his hand out over the water of Egypt, over all the places where there is water. The water will change into blood. All the water in Egypt will be blood, even the water in wooden bowls and in stone jars.’

₂₀Moses and Aaron did what God said. Aaron held out his staff, then he hit the water of the river where Pharaoh and his officials could see him. The water in the river changed into blood. ₂₁The fish in the Nile River died and the river smelled very bad. The Egyptians were not able to drink the water from the Nile River. All the water in Egypt had changed into blood.

₂₂But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their magic and Pharaoh became even more stubborn. He did not want to listen to Moses and Aaron. It was as the Lord had said. ₂₃Pharaoh turned_around and went back to his home. He did not want to listen or change his heart. ₂₄All the Egyptians started to make holes next to the river to get water because they could not drink the water from the Nile River. ₂₅After the Lord had changed the water of the Nile River into blood, there was no water for 7 days.