God Commands Moses and Aaron

1And YHWH said to Moses, “See, I have made you God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2You 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.

3And I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4And 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. 5And 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.”

6And Moses and Aaron did as YHWH commanded them; so they did. 7And Moses was a son of eighty years and Aaron was a son of three and eighty years when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff

8And 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.†”

10And 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.

11And 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. 12And each man cast down his staff, and they became monsters, and the staff of Aaron swallowed up their staffs.

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

The First Plague: Blood

14And YHWH said to Moses, “The heart of Pharaoh is heavy;† he has refused to send out. the people 15Go 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. 16And 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. 17Thus 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. 18And 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.’”

19And YHWH said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, and they shall become blood.’ And there shall be blood in all the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and in the vessels of stone.”

20And Moses and Aaron did so, as YHWH had commanded; and he lifted up the staff† and struck the waters that were in the River, in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, and all the waters that were in the River were turned to blood. 21And the fish that were in the River died, and the River stank, and Egypt was not able to drink water from the River, and the blood was in all the land of Egypt.

22And the magicians of Egypt with their secret arts did so. And the heart of Pharaoh was strengthened, and he did not listen to them, as YHWH had spoken. 23And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even to this. 24And all Egypt dug around the River for water to drink, because they were not able to drink from the waters of the River.

25And seven days were fulfilled after YHWH struck the river.