God puts Moses in charge
1The LORD told Moses, “I want you to know that I’m giving you the power of God over Pharaoh. Your brother Aaron will serve as your prophet. [1] 2I want you to tell Aaron the orders I’m giving. Then, your brother will tell Pharaoh to let the Israelite people leave Egypt. 3But I’m going to make Pharaoh more stubborn than he already is. I’m going to do this to create many opportunities for me to show everyone the proof of my power in Egypt.4Pharaoh won’t listen to you. But I’m going to step in and get my people out of there. I’m going to do this by bringing justice to Egypt. 5When I do that, when I pass judgment on the Egyptians throughout the nation and free the Israelites, Egyptians will finally realize that I am the LORD.”
6Moses and Aaron did what the LORD told them to do. 7Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when they delivered God’s demand to Pharaoh.
A stick becomes a snake
8The LORD gave Moses and Aaron these instructions. 9“Pharaoh will say, ‘Prove your power with a miraculous sign.’ When he does, I want Moses to tell Aaron, ‘Toss your walking stick down in front of Pharaoh.’ It will turn into a snake.” 10So, Moses and Aaron met with Pharaoh. They did what the LORD told them to do. Aaron dropped the walking stick on the floor and it morphed into a snake.11Pharaoh called in his scholarly sages, magicians, along with sorcerers who specialized in secret arts. These people worked a spell that did what Moses and Aaron had done. They turned a stick into a snake. 12In fact, each one of those people threw down a stick, and each stick turned into a snake. But the snake from Aaron’s stick swallowed the others. 13Yet Pharaoh’s stubborn streak grew thicker. He refused to listen further, just as the LORD predicted.
Moses waits for king at the Nile
14The LORD told Moses, “Pharaoh is stubborn. He has no intention of letting the people go. 15What I want you to do next is wait for Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes down to the Nile River. Wait on the bank with the same walking stick that turned into a snake. 16Tell him, “The LORD, who is God of the Hebrews, sent me to deliver this message to you: ‘I’ve told you to let my people go so they can worship me in the desert. But you haven’t taken me seriously.’ 17So this is what the LORD says he will do: “When you see what I am about to do you will know that I am the LORD. Look at this. I’m going to put my hand on this walking stick, and when the stick touches the water, the Nile River will turn to blood. [2] 18The fish will die. The water will stink. And your Egyptian people won’t be able to drink it anymore”Blood Nile
19The LORD told Moses to tell Aaron, “Hold your walking stick above the water. All the freshwater in Egypt will turn to blood. That includes rivers, ponds, and irrigation ditches—all the water. It will all turn to blood. Even water stored in stone jars and wooden buckets. 20Moses and Aaron did exactly what the LORD told them to do. Aaron held the walking stick above the water. When he touched the stick into the water, while Pharaoh and his entourage watched, the Nile turned into blood.21The fish died. The water stunk. And the Egyptian people couldn’t stand to drink it. The water everywhere had turned into blood. 22Egyptian magicians managed to turn water into blood, too. So, Pharaoh remained unimpressed with the LORD, and he grew even more stubborn, as the LORD predicted. 23Pharaoh went back to his palace and moved on to other matters. 24For drinking water, Egyptians had to dig wells near the river. 25This continued for a week.
