I will Stretch Out My Hand

1And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, I have appointed thee the god of Pharao; and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet. 2Thou shalt speak to him all that I command thee; and he shall speak to Pharao, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. 3But I shall harden his heart, and shall multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4And he will not hear you: and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and will bring forth my army and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt, by very great judgments. 5And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, who have stretched forth my hand upon Egypt, and have brought forth the children of Israel out of the midst of them. 6And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded; so did they. 7And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharao.

Aaron's Staff Becomes a Serpent

8And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 9When Pharao shall say to you, Shew signs; thou shalt say to Aaron: Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharao, and it shall be turned into a serpent. 10So Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharao, and did as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron took the rod before Pharao and his servants, and it was turned into a serpent. 11And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians; and they also by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets, did in like manner. 12And they every one cast down their rods, and they were turned into serpents: but Aaron's rod devoured their rods. 13And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord had commanded.

The First Plague: Blood

14And the Lord said to Moses: Pharao's heart is hardened, he will not let the people go. 15Go to him in the morning, behold he will go out to the waters: and thou shalt stand to meet him on the ' bank of the river: and thou shalt take in thy hand the rod that was turned into a serpent. 16And thou shalt say to him: The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to thee, saying: Let my people go to sacrifice to me in the desert: and hitherto thou wouldst not hear. 17Thus therefore saith the Lord: In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold I will strike with the rod, that is in my hand, the water of the river, and it shall be turned into blood. 18And the fishes that are in the river, shall die, and the waters shall be corrupted, and the Egyptians shall be afflicted when they drink the water of the river. 19The Lord also said to Moses: Say to Aaron, Take thy rod; and stretch forth thy hand upon the waters of Egypt, and upon their rivers, and streams and pools, and all the ponds of waters, that they may be turned into blood: and let blood be in all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and of stone.

20And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded: and lifting up the rod, he struck the water of the river before Pharao and his servants: and it was turned into blood. 21And the fishes that were in the river died; and the river corrupted, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river, and there was blood in all the land of Egypt. 22And the magicians of the Egyptians with their enchantments did in like manner; and Pharao's heart was hardened, neither did he hear them, as the Lord had commanded. 23And he turned himself away, and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to it this time also. 24And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. 25And seven days were fully ended, after that the Lord struck the river.