7 The Lord said to Moses, “I have made you ·like God [^LGod] to ·the king of Egypt [^LPharaoh], and your brother Aaron will be like a prophet for you [^Cjust as God would speak to people through prophets so Moses would speak to Pharaoh through Aaron]. ² Tell Aaron your brother everything that I command you, and let him tell ·the king of Egypt [^LPharaoh] to let the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] leave his ·country [land]. ³ But I will ·make the king stubborn [^Lharden the heart of Pharaoh]. I will ·do many miracles [^Lmultiply my signs and wonders] in Egypt, ⁴ but ·he will still refuse to listen [^LPharaoh will not listen to you]. So then I will ·punish Egypt terribly [^Lplace my hand on Egypt with great judgments], and I will lead my ·divisions [hosts; companies; 6:26], my people the Israelites, out of ·that land [^Lthe land of Egypt]. ⁵ I will ·punish Egypt with my power [^Lextend my hand against Egypt], and I will bring the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] ·out of that land [^Lfrom their midst]. Then the Egyptians will know I am the Lord.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to ·the king [^LPharaoh].

Aaron’s Walking Stick Becomes a Snake

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “Moses, when ·the king [^LPharaoh] asks you to do a ·miracle [wonder], tell Aaron to [^Ltake and] throw his ·walking stick [staff] down in front of ·the king [^LPharaoh], and it will become a ·snake [serpent; 4:3–5; ^Csymbols of dangerous power in Egypt; Pharaoh’s headdress had a serpent at its crest].”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to ·the king [^LPharaoh] as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his ·walking stick [staff] down in front of ·the king [^LPharaoh] and his officers, and it became a ·snake [serpent].

¹¹ So ·the king [^LPharaoh] called in his wise men and his ·magicians [sorcerers], and with their ·tricks [magic arts] the Egyptian magicians were able to do the same thing [^Cshowing that they had spiritual powers supporting them]. ¹² They threw their ·walking sticks [staffs] on the ground, and their ·sticks [staffs] became snakes. But Aaron’s ·stick [staff] swallowed theirs [^Cshowing God’s power was superior]. ¹³ Still the king ·was stubborn [^Lhardened his heart] and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Water Becomes Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “·The king is being stubborn [^LPharaoh’s heart is hard/heavy] and refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ In the morning ·the king [^LPharaoh] will go out to the ·Nile River [^Lwater]. Go meet him by the edge of the ·river [^LNile], and take with you the ·walking stick [staff] that became a ·snake [serpent]. ¹⁶ Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you. He said, ‘Let my people go ·worship [serve] me in the ·desert [wilderness].’ Until now you have not listened. ¹⁷ This is what the Lord says: ‘This is how you will know that I am the Lord. I will strike the water of the Nile River with this ·stick [staff] in my hand, and the water will change into blood. ¹⁸ Then the fish in the Nile will die, and the river will begin to stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the Nile.’”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: ‘Take the ·walking stick [staff] in your hand and stretch your hand over the rivers, canals, ponds, and pools in Egypt.’ The water will become blood everywhere in Egypt, both in wooden buckets and in stone jars.”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. In front of ·the king [^LPharaoh] and his officers, Aaron raised his ·walking stick [staff] and struck the water in the Nile River. So all the water in the Nile changed into blood. ²¹ The fish in the Nile died, and the river began to stink, so the Egyptians could not drink water from it. Blood was everywhere in the land of Egypt.

²² Using their ·tricks [magic arts], the ·magicians [sorcerers] of Egypt did the same thing. So the ·king was stubborn [^Lheart of Pharaoh was hardened] and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. ²³ ·The king [^LPharaoh] turned and went into his ·palace [house] and ·ignored what Moses and Aaron had done [^Ldid not take this to heart]. ²⁴ The Egyptians could not drink the water from the Nile, so all of them dug along the bank of the river, looking for water to drink.

The Frogs

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord ·changed [^Lstruck] the Nile River.