to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
28At the time the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29the LORD said to him, "I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh, Egypt's king, everything that I've said to you."
30But Moses replied to the LORD, "Look, I'm not a very good speaker. How is Pharaoh ever going to listen to me?"
Exodus 7The LORD said to Moses, "See, I've made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2You will say everything that I command you, and your brother Aaron will tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites out of his land. 3But I'll make Pharaoh stubborn, and I'll perform many of my signs and amazing acts in the land of Egypt. 4When Pharaoh refuses to listen to you, then I'll act against Egypt and I'll bring my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt in military formation by momentous events of justice. 5The Egyptians will come to know that I am the LORD, when I act against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them."6Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them. 7Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Turning rods into snakes
8The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9"When Pharaoh says to you, 'Do one of your amazing acts,' then say to Aaron, 'Take your shepherd's rod and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will turn into a cobra.'"i
10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw down his shepherd's rod in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it turned into a cobra. 11Then Pharaoh called together his wise men and wizards, and Egypt's religious expertsj did the same thing by using their secret knowledge. 12Each one threw down his rod, and they turned into cobras. But then Aaron's rod swallowed up each of their rods. 13However, Pharaoh remained stubborn. He wouldn't listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
Water into blood
14Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh is stubborn. He still refuses to let the people go. 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning. As he is going out to the water, make sure you stand at the bank of the Nile River so you will run into him. Bring along the shepherd's rod that turned into a snake. 16Say to him, The LORD, the Hebrews' God, has sent me to you with this message: Let my people go so that they can worship me in the desert. Up to now you still haven't listened. 17This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. I'm now going to hit the water of the Nile River with this rod in my hand, and it will turn into blood. 18The fish in the Nile are going to die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians won't be able to drink water from the Nile."19The LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your shepherd's rod and stretch out your hand over Egypt's waters--over their rivers, their canals, their marshes, and all their bodies of water--so that they turn into blood. There will be blood all over the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.'"
20Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded. He raised the shepherd's rod and hit the water in the Nile in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. 21The fish in the Nile died, and the Nile began to stink so that the Egyptians couldn't drink water from the Nile. There was blood all over the land of Egypt. 22But the Egyptian religious experts did the same thing with their secret knowledge. As a result, Pharaoh remained stubborn, and he wouldn't listen to them, just as the LORD had said. 23Pharaoh turned and went back to his palace. He wasn't impressed even by this. 24Meanwhile, all the Egyptians had to dig for drinking water along the banks of the Nile River, because they couldn't drink the water of the Nile itself. 25Seven days went by after the LORD had struck the Nile River.
Invasion of frogs
Exodus 8k Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the LORD says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. 2If you refuse to let them go, then I'll send a plague of frogs over your whole country. 3The Nile will overflow with frogs. They'll get into your palace, into your bedroom and onto your bed, into your officials' houses, and among all your people, and even into your ovens and bread pans. 4The frogs will crawl up on you, your people, and all your officials."5Andl the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your shepherd's rod over the rivers, the canals, and the marshes, and make the frogs crawl up all over the land of Egypt.'"6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt. The frogs crawled up and covered the land of Egypt. 7However, the Egyptian religious experts were able to do the same thing by their secret knowledge. They too made frogs crawl up onto the land of Egypt.
8Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, "If you pray to the LORD to get rid of the frogs from me and my people, then I'll let the people go so that they can offer sacrifices to the LORD."
9Moses said to Pharaoh, "Have it your way. When should I pray for you and your officials and your people to remove the frogs from your houses, courtyards, and fields? They'll stay only in the Nile."
10Pharaoh said, "Tomorrow!"
Moses said, "Just as you say! That way you will know that there is no one like the LORD our God. 11The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officials, and your people. They'll stay only in the Nile."12After Moses and Aaron had left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs that the LORD had brought on Pharaoh. 13The LORD did as Moses asked. The frogs died inside the houses, out in the yards, and in the fields. 14They gathered them together in big piles, and the land began to stink. 15But when Pharaoh saw that the disaster was over, he became stubborn again and wouldn't listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
Swarming lice
16Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your shepherd's rod and hit the land's dirt so that licem appear in the whole land of Egypt.'"17They did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his shepherd's rod, hit the land's dirt, and lice appeared on both people and animals. All the land's dirt turned into lice throughout the whole land of Egypt.
18The religious expertsn tried to produce lice by their secret knowledge, but they weren't able to do it. There were lice on people and animals. 19The religious experts said to Pharaoh, "This is something only God could do!" But Pharaoh was stubborn, and he wouldn't listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
Insects fill Egypt
20The LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes out to the water. Say to him, This is what the LORD says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. 21If you refuse to let my people go, I'll send swarms of insectso on you, your officials, your people, and your houses. All Egyptian houses will be filled with swarms of insects and also the ground that they cover. 22But on that day I'll set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live. No swarms of insects will come there so you will know that I, the LORD, am in this land. 23I'll put a barrier between my people and your people. This sign will happen tomorrow."24The LORD did this. Great swarms of insects came into the houses of Pharaoh and his officials and into the whole land of Egypt. The land was ruined by the insects.
25Then Pharaoh called in Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, offer sacrifices to your God within the land."
26Moses replied, "It wouldn't be right to do that, because the sacrifices that we offer to the LORD our God will offend Egyptians. If we openly offer sacrifices that offend Egyptians, won't they stone us to death?27We need to go for a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God as he has ordered us."
28So Pharaoh said, "I'll let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, provided you don't go too far away and you pray for me."
29Moses said, "I'll leave