Exodus 7
1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Listen [carefully]. [Just like I enabled prophet to speak my messages], I will cause the king [to consider that] you are like a god, and that Aaron is like a prophet.
The Lord told Moses, “Look, I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
2 You must tell everything I command you [to tell to your older] brother Aaron, and he will tell that to the king. He must tell the king to let the Israeli people leave his land.
You are to repeat everything that I tell you to say, and your brother Aaron must repeat it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites leave his country.
3 But I will make the king stubborn [IDM]. As a result, even though I perform many kinds of (miracles/terrifying things) [DOU] [here] in Egypt,
But I will give Pharaoh a stubborn attitude, and though I will perform many signs and wonders in Egypt, he won't listen to you.
4 the king will not pay any attention to what you say. Then I will punish [MTY] the people of Egypt [MTY] very severely [MTY], and I will lead/bring the tribes of the Israeli people out of Egypt.
Then I will attack Egypt, imposing heavy punishments on them, and I will lead out by their tribes my people the Israelites.
5 Then, when I show my great power [MTY] to the Egyptian people and bring the Israeli people out from among them, they will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].”
In this way the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord—when I take action against Egypt and lead the Israelites out of the country.”
6 Aaron and Moses/I did what Yahweh told them/us to do. They/We [went and spoke to the king].
Moses and Aaron did exactly as the Lord had ordered.
7 At that time, Moses/I was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83 years old.
Moses was eighty and Aaron was eighty-three when they went and spoke to Pharaoh.
8 Yahweh said to Moses/me,
The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
9 “If the king says to you, ‘Prove [that God sent] you by performing a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Throw your stick down in front of the king, in order that it may become a snake.’”
“When Pharaoh asks you, ‘Why don't you perform a miracle, then?’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your walking stick and throw it down in front of Pharaoh,’ and it will turn into a snake.”
10 So Aaron and Moses/I went to the king and did what Yahweh had commanded [them/us to do]. Aaron threw his stick down in front of the king and his officials, and it became a snake.
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had ordered. Aaron threw down his staff in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it turned into a snake.
11 Then the king summoned his sorcerers and men who performed magic. They did the same thing, using their magic.
But Pharaoh called in wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic arts.
12 They all threw down their sticks, and they became snakes. But Aaron’s stick, [which had become a snake], swallowed up all their sticks!
Each of them threw down their walking sticks and they also turned into snakes, but Aaron's walking stick swallowed up all their walking sticks.
13 But the king continued to be stubborn [IDM], just as Yahweh had predicted, and he would not pay attention to [what Aaron and Moses/I said].
But Pharaoh had a hard, stubborn attitude, and he wouldn't listen to them, as the Lord had predicted.
14 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “The king is very stubborn [IDM]. He refuses to allow [my] people to go.
The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh has a stubborn attitude—he's refusing to let the people go.
15 So [tomorrow] morning, go to him as he is going down to the [Nile] River [to bathe]. Wait for him at the riverbank. [When he comes out of the water, show] him the stick, the one which became a snake.
So tomorrow morning go to Pharaoh as he walks down to the river. Wait to meet him on the bank of the Nile. Take with you the walking stick that turned into a snake.
16 Say to him, ‘Yahweh God, the one [we] Hebrews [worship], sent me to you to tell you to let my people go, in order that they may worship him in the desert. [We told you that], but you have not paid any attention to it.
Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you, ‘Let my people go, so that they can worship me in the desert. But you have not listened up until now.
17 [So now] Yahweh says this: “This is the way you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do]. Watch this: I am going to strike the water that is in the Nile [River] with the stick that is in my hand. [When I do that], the water will become blood (OR, [red like] blood [MTY]).
This is what the Lord is now telling you: This is how you will know that I am the Lord.’” “Watch! Using the walking stick I'm holding, I'm going to hit the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood.
18 Then the fish in the Nile [River] will die, and the [water in] the river will stink, and the Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the Nile River.”’”
The fish in the Nile will die, the river will smell, and the Egyptians won't be able to drink any of its water.”
19 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “[When you are talking to the king], say to Aaron, ‘Hold your stick out [as though you were holding it] over the water in Egypt—over the rivers, the canals, the ponds, and over the pools of water, in order that [all of it] may become [red like] blood.’ When Aaron does that, there will be blood throughout Egypt, even in wooden jars and in stone jars.”
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your walking stick in your hand and hold it out over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers and canals and ponds and pools, so that they will turn to blood. There will be blood through all of Egypt, even in containers made of wood and stone.’”
20 So Aaron and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded. As the king and his officials were watching, Aaron lifted up his stick and then struck the water in the Nile [River] with it. And all the water in the river turned [red like] blood.
Moses and Aaron did exactly as the Lord had ordered. While Pharaoh and all his officials watched, Aaron lifted up his walking stick and hit the water of the Nile. Immediately the whole river turned to blood!
21 Then all the fish died. And the water stank, with the result that the Egyptians could not drink water from the river. Everywhere in Egypt [the water] became [red like] blood.
The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so awful that the Egyptians could not drink its water. There was blood through all of Egypt!
22 But the men who performed magic did the same thing using their magic. So the king remained stubborn [IDM], and he would not pay attention to what Aaron and Moses/I said, just as Yahweh had predicted.
But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic arts. Pharaoh maintained his stubborn attitude and he wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.
23 The king turned and went back to his palace, and he did not think any more about it [IDM].
Pharaoh went back to his palace and didn't pay any attention to what had happened.
24 The Egyptians [HYP] dug [into the ground] near the Nile [River] to get water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.
All the Egyptians dug alongside the Nile because they couldn't drink its water.
25 (One week/Seven days) passed after Yahweh caused the water in the Nile [River to become red like blood].
Seven days went by after the Lord hit the Nile.
