Exodus 7:8-8:19

New King James Version

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod^(A)

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ^(B)‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ^(C)‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just ^(D)as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it ^(E)became a serpent.

¹¹ But Pharaoh also ^(F)called the wise men and ^(G)the ^[a]sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also ^(H)did in like manner with their ^[b]enchantments. ¹² For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. ¹³ And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Waters Become Blood

¹⁴ So the Lord said to Moses: ^(I)“Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the ^(J)water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and ^(K)the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ^(L)‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, ^(M)that they may ^[c]serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord: “By this ^(N)you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and ^(O)they shall be turned ^(P)to blood. ¹⁸ And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will ^(Q)loathe^[d] to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”

¹⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and ^(R)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ” ²⁰ And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he ^(S)lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the ^(T)waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians ^(U)could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

^22 (V)Then the magicians of Egypt did ^(W)so with their ^[e]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, ^(X)as the Lord had said. ²³ And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. ²⁵ And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.

The Second Plague: Frogs

8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, ^(Y)that they may serve Me. ² But if you ^(Z)refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with ^(AA)frogs. ³ So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your ^(AB)bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. ⁴ And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ”

⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ^(AC)‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” ⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and ^(AD)the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ^7 (AE)And the magicians did so with their ^[f]enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, ^(AF)“Entreat^[g] the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people ^(AG)go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

⁹ And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.”

¹⁰ So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that ^(AH)there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

¹² Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses ^(AI)cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. ¹³ So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. ¹⁴ They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was ^(AJ)relief, ^(AK)he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

The Third Plague: Lice

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become ^[h]lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” ¹⁷ And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and ^(AL)it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸ Now ^(AM)the magicians so worked with their ^[i]enchantments to bring forth lice, but they ^(AN)could not. So there were lice on man and beast. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is ^(AO)the^[j] finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s ^(AP)heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.