Exodus 7
Complete Jewish Bible
7 But Adonai said to Moshe, “I have put you in the place of God to Pharaoh, and Aharon your brother will be your prophet. 2 You are to say everything I order you, and Aharon your brother is to speak to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people of Isra’el leave his land. 3 But I will make him hardhearted. Even though I will increase my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my armies, my people the sons of Isra’el, out of the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 5 Then, when I stretch out my hand over Egypt and bring the people of Isra’el out from among them, the Egyptians will know that I am Adonai.”
6 Moshe and Aharon did exactly what Adonai ordered them to do. 7 Moshe was eighty years old and Aharon eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
(iv) 8 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aharon to take his staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, so that it can become a snake.” 10 Moshe and Aharon went in to Pharaoh and did this, as Adonai had ordered — Aharon threw down his staff in front of Pharaoh and his servants, and it turned into a snake. 11 But Pharaoh in turn called for the sages and sorcerers; and they too, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing, making use of their secret arts. 12 Each one threw his staff down, and they turned into snakes. But Aharon’s staff swallowed up theirs. 13 Nevertheless, Pharaoh was made hardhearted; and he didn’t listen to them, as Adonai had said would happen.
14 Adonai said to Moshe, “Pharaoh is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the water. Stand on the riverbank to confront him, take in your hand the staff which was turned into a snake, 16 and say to him, ‘Adonai, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say: “Let my people go, so that they can worship me in the desert.” But until now you haven’t listened; 17 so Adonai says, “This will let you know that I am Adonai”: I will take the staff in my hand and strike the water in the river, and it will be turned into blood. 18 The fish in the river will die, the river will stink and the Egyptians won’t want to drink water from the river.’”
19 Adonai said to Moshe, “Say to Aharon, ‘Take your staff, reach out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, canals, ponds and all their reservoirs, so that they can turn into blood. There will be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars.’” 20 Moshe and Aharon did exactly what Adonai had ordered. He raised the staff and, in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, struck the water in the river; and all the water in the river was turned into blood. 21 The fish in the river died, and the river stank so badly that the Egyptians couldn’t drink its water. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, so that Pharaoh was made hardhearted and didn’t listen to them, as Adonai had said would happen. 23 Pharaoh just turned and went back to his palace, without taking any of this to heart. 24 All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink, because they couldn’t drink the river water.
25 Seven days after Adonai had struck the river, 26 (8:1) Adonai said to Moshe, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Here is what Adonai says: “Let my people go, so that they can worship me. 27 (8:2) If you refuse to let them go, I will strike all your territory with frogs. 28 (8:3) The river will swarm with frogs. They will go up, enter your palace and go into your bedroom, onto your bed. They will enter the houses of your servants and your people and go into your ovens and kneading bowls. 29 (8:4) The frogs will climb all over you, your people and your servants.”’”
Exodus 7
Expanded Bible
7 The Lord said to Moses, “I have made you ·like God [L God] to ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh], and your brother Aaron will be like a prophet for you [C just 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 [L Pharaoh] to let the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] leave his ·country [land]. 3 But I will ·make the king stubborn [L harden the heart of Pharaoh]. I will ·do many miracles [L multiply my signs and wonders] in Egypt, 4 but ·he will still refuse to listen [L Pharaoh will not listen to you]. So then I will ·punish Egypt terribly [L place 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 [L the land of Egypt]. 5 I will ·punish Egypt with my power [L extend my hand against Egypt], and I will bring the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] ·out of that land [L from 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 [L Pharaoh].
Aaron’s Walking Stick Becomes a Snake
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “Moses, when ·the king [L Pharaoh] asks you to do a ·miracle [wonder], tell Aaron to [L take and] throw his ·walking stick [staff] down in front of ·the king [L Pharaoh], and it will become a ·snake [serpent; 4:3–5; C symbols of dangerous power in Egypt; Pharaoh’s headdress had a serpent at its crest].”
10 So Moses and Aaron went to ·the king [L Pharaoh] as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his ·walking stick [staff] down in front of ·the king [L Pharaoh] and his officers, and it became a ·snake [serpent].
11 So ·the king [L Pharaoh] 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 [C showing 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 [C showing God’s power was superior]. 13 Still the king ·was stubborn [L hardened 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 [L Pharaoh’s heart is hard/heavy] and refuses to let the people go. 15 In the morning ·the king [L Pharaoh] will go out to the ·Nile River [L water]. Go meet him by the edge of the ·river [L Nile], 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 [L Pharaoh] 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 [L heart of Pharaoh was hardened] and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23 ·The king [L Pharaoh] turned and went into his ·palace [house] and ·ignored what Moses and Aaron had done [L did 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 [L struck] the Nile River.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.