Signs before Pharaoh

1 But the Lord said to Moses, See, I have appointed you a Teacher to Pharaoh,⁠a and Aaron shall be your interpreter. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall speak with Pharaoh, so that he sends the sons of Israel away from his land. 3 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh will not accept it from you; and I will lay the blow of My power on Egypt, and will bring My armies, My people, the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I raise the blow of My power over Egypt and bring the sons of Israel out from among them. 6 And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them; that is what they did. 7 And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke with Pharaoh. 8 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Show a sign, you shall say to Aaron, Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. 10 And Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and did as the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 And Pharaoh called for the wise men and the magicians; and they also, the Egyptian magicians, did the same by their enchantments. 12 Each man threw down his staff, and they became serpents; but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The Plagues Begin

14 And the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is stubborn: he refuses to send the people away. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning; look, he is going out to the water, and stand on the bank of the river to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent; 16 and say to him, The Lord God of the Jews has sent me to you, saying, Release My people, so that they may worship before Me in the desert; and look, you have not yet complied. 17 This is what the Lord says: By this you shall know that I am the Lord: Look, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the river, and it shall be turned to blood: 18 and the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river will stink, and the Egyptians will weary themselves trying to drink water from the river. 19 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take your staff, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, and over their lakes, and over all their reservoirs of water, so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he raised the staff and struck the waters of the river in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters of the river were turned into blood. 21 And the fish of the river died, and the river stank; and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river, and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 And the magicians did the same with their enchantments; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they could not drink the water that was in the river. 25 And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river; 26 and the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, This is what the Lord says: Send My people away, so that they may worship before Me. 27 But if you refuse to send them away, look, I will strike all your territory with frogs, 28 and the river shall swarm with frogs; and they shall come up and go into your house, and into your bedroom, and onto your bed, and into the houses of your servants, and among your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls; 29 and the frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.