Get the free app for more features and content.
Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

1The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land. 3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring my people the Israelites, company by company, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.” 6Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod

8The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’ ” 10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts. 12Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs. 13Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the river bank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake. 16Say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.” But until now you have not listened. 17Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord.” See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood. 18The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.’ ” 19The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its canals, and its ponds, and all its pools of water—so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ”

20Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood, 21and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt. 22But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river.

25Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Click here to learn more.

Featured Resources

Book of Exodus Summary: A Complete Animated Overview (Part 1)

Book of Exodus Summary: A Complete Animated Ove...

Watch our overview video on Exodus 1-18, which breaks down the literary desig...

BibleProject

Introduction to Exodus

Introduction to Exodus

Dr. Dwight Radcliff introduces Exodus and its themes of God’s glory and supre...

Fuller Studio

Exodus

Exodus

The Village Church

Why the Biblical Exodus Matters (John Oswalt)

Why the Biblical Exodus Matters (John Oswalt)

https://seedbed.com Seedbed's mission is to gather, connect, and resource ...

Seedbed

THE PLAGUES | Bible Study | Jesus In All of Exodus 7-10

THE PLAGUES | Bible Study | Jesus In All of Exo...

This bible study devotional covers Exodus chapters 7-10. Here we see God infl...

Spoken Gospel

Exodus 7-11: The Plauges

Exodus 7-11: The Plauges

Joel S. Baden, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Yale Divinity School. J...

Yale Divinity School

The Book of Exodus - Part 1

The Book of Exodus - Part 1

The first part of Exodus recounts how Abraham’s family ends up enslaved in Eg...

BibleProject

How to See the Gospel in Exodus

How to See the Gospel in Exodus

The Village Church exists to bring glory to God by making disciples through g...

The Village Church

Moses and Aaron

Moses and Aaron

After God appoints Moses to confront Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of s...

BibleProject

Exodus is Our Story

Exodus is Our Story

From the sermon, Exodus (Part 1) - Our Story in Exodus - http://www.thevillag...

The Village Church

Explore Exodus 7