The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

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- Chapter 7 -

And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, I have appointed you as the god of Pharaoh. And Aaron, your brother, will be your prophet.(a)

You will speak to him all that I command you. And he will speak to Pharaoh, so that he may release the sons of Israel from his land.

But I will harden his heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,(b)

and he will not listen to you. And I will send my hand over Egypt, and I will lead my army and my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt, through very great judgments.

And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, who has extended my hand over Egypt, and who has led the sons of Israel from their midst.”

And so, Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had instructed. And so it was done.

Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

“When Pharaoh will say to you, ‘Show signs,’ you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will be turned into a snake.’ ”

And so Moses and Aaron entered to Pharaoh, and they did just as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron took the staff in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and it was turned into a snake.(c)

Then Pharaoh called the wise men and the sorcerers. And they also, by Egyptian incantations and certain secrets, did similarly.(d)

(e)

And each one cast down their staffs, and they were turned into serpents. But the staff of Aaron devoured their staffs.

And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.

The First Plague: Blood

Then the Lord said to Moses: “The heart of Pharaoh has been hardened; he is not willing to release the people.

Go to him in the morning; behold, he will go out to the waters. And you will stand to meet him above the bank of the river. And you will take, in your hand, the staff that was turned into a serpent.

And you will say to him: ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to you, saying: Release my people in order to sacrifice to me in the desert. And even until the present time, you were not willing to listen.

Therefore, thus says the Lord: In this you will know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike, with the staff that is in my hand, the water of the river, and it will be turned into blood.

Also, the fishes that are in the river will die, and the waters will be polluted, and the Egyptians will be afflicted when they drink the water of the river.’ ”

The Lord also said to Moses: “Say to Aaron: ‘Take your staff; and extend your hand over the waters of Egypt, and over their rivers and streams and marshes and all the pools of waters, so that they may be turned into blood. And let there be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, as much in vessels of wood as in those of stone.’ ”

And Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had instructed. And lifting up the staff, he struck the water of the river in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants. And it was turned into blood.

And the fishes that were in the river died, and the river was polluted, and the Egyptians were not able to drink the water of the river, and there was blood throughout the entire land of Egypt.

And the sorcerers of the Egyptians, with their incantations, did similarly. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.

And he turned himself away, and he entered his house, neither did he apply his heart to this turn of events.

Then all the Egyptians dug along the borders of the river for water to drink. For they were not able to drink from the water of the river.

And seven days were completed, after the Lord struck the river.

Footnotes

(a)7:1 The god of Pharao:Viz., to be his judge; and to exercise a divine power, as God’s instrument, over him and his people.(Challoner)

(b)7:3 I shall harden, etc:not by being the efficient cause of his hardness of heart, but by permitting it; and by withdrawing grace from him, in punishment of his malice; which alone was the proper cause of his being hardened.(Challoner)

(d)7:11 The word ‘maleficos’ refers to ancient sorcerers or magicians, but it also implies that they were evil, using ‘black magic’ or the like. So Pharaoh called in those who were wise, and even those who were evil doers, he did not care which.(Conte)

(e)7:11 Magicians:Jannes, and Mambres, or Jambres, 2 Tim. 3:8.(Challoner)

The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.

You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring out my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring the children of Israel out from among them.”

Moses and Aaron did so. As the LORD commanded them, so they did.

Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff

The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’”

Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as the LORD had commanded. Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments.

For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.

The First Plague: Blood

The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go.

Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand.

You shall tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. Behold, until now you haven’t listened.”

The LORD says, “In this you shall know that I am the LORD. Behold: I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

The fish that are in the river will die and the river will become foul. The Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the river.”’”

The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood. There will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he 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 waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

The fish that were in the river died. The river became foul. The Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river. The blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.

The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.

Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart.

All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink the river water.

Seven days were fulfilled, after the LORD had struck the river.