| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet. | 1The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. |
| 2Tell Aaron everything I command you, and Aaron must command Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave his country. | 2You are to speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land. |
| 3But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. | 3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, |
| 4Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. | 4Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay My hand on Egypt, and by mighty acts of judgment I will bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. |
| 5When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” | 5And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.” |
| 6So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them. | 6So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them. |
| 7Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh. | 7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. |
| 8Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, | 8The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, |
| 9“Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent. ’” | 9“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.” |
| 10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the LORD had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent! | 10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. |
| 11Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. | 11But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts. |
| 12They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. | 12Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up the other staffs. |
| 13Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted. A Plague of Blood | 13Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. |
| 14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, and he still refuses to let the people go. | 14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. |
| 15So go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes down to the river. Stand on the bank of the Nile and meet him there. Be sure to take along the staff that turned into a snake. | 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. |
| 16Then announce to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Until now, you have refused to listen to him. | 16Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But you have not listened until now. |
| 17So this is what the LORD says: “I will show you that I am the LORD.” Look! I will strike the water of the Nile with this staff in my hand, and the river will turn to blood. | 17This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood. |
| 18The fish in it will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’” | 18The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink its water.’ ” |
| 19Then the LORD said to Moses: “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and raise your hand over the waters of Egypt—all its rivers, canals, ponds, and all the reservoirs. Turn all the water to blood. Everywhere in Egypt the water will turn to blood, even the water stored in wooden bowls and stone pots.’” | 19And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers and canals and ponds and reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.” |
| 20So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood! | 20Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood. |
| 21The fish in the river died, and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it. There was blood everywhere throughout the land of Egypt. | 21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt. |
| 22But again the magicians of Egypt used their magic, and they, too, turned water into blood. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted. | 22But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. |
| 23Pharaoh returned to his palace and put the whole thing out of his mind. | 23Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart. |
| 24Then all the Egyptians dug along the riverbank to find drinking water, for they couldn’t drink the water from the Nile. | 24So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river. |
| 25Seven days passed from the time the LORD struck the Nile. | 25And seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile. |
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