Daily Bread

The Plague of Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding;^(A) he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river.^(B) Confront him on the bank of the Nile,^(C) and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. ¹⁶ Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship^(D) me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.^{(E) 17} This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord:^(F) With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.^{(G) 18} The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink;^(H) the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”^(I)

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff^(J) and stretch out your hand^(K) over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels^[a] of wood and stone.”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded.^(L) He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile,^(M) and all the water was changed into blood.^{(N) 21} The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

²² But the Egyptian magicians^(O) did the same things by their secret arts,^(P) and Pharaoh’s heart^(Q) became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. ²³ Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. ²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water^(R), because they could not drink the water of the river.

The Plague of Frogs

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile. 8 ^1 [b]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship^(S) me. ² If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs^(T) on your whole country. ³ The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people,^(U) and into your ovens and kneading troughs.^{(V) 4} The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’”

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff^(W) over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs^(X) come up on the land of Egypt.’”

⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs^(Y) came up and covered the land. ⁷ But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts;^(Z) they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray^(AA) to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices^(AB) to the Lord.”

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of setting the time^(AC) for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.”

¹⁰ “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.

Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God.^{(AD) 11} The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”

¹² After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. ¹³ And the Lord did what Moses asked.^(AE) The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. ¹⁴ They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief,^(AF) he hardened his heart^(AG) and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff^(AH) and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.” ¹⁷ They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats^(AI) came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. ¹⁸ But when the magicians^(AJ) tried to produce gnats by their secret arts,^(AK) they could not.

Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, ¹⁹ the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger^(AL) of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart^(AM) was hard and he would not listen,^(AN) just as the Lord had said.