Exo 7:9-20 | ESV | STEP | When Pharaoh says to you, Prove yourselves by working a miracle , then you shall say to Aaron , Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh , that it may become a serpent .

a[Isa. 7:11; John 2:18; 4:48; 6:30]

b Gen. 41:8

c ver. 12, 22; ch. 8:7, 18; 9:11; 2 Tim. 3:8

d[See ver. 3 above]

e[See ver. 3 above]

f ch. 8:20; 9:13

g ch. 4:2, 17; 17:5

h ch. 4:3

i ch. 3:18; 5:3; 9:1, 13

j ch. 3:12, 18; 5:1, 3

k ver. 5

l ch. 4:9; [Rev. 16:4]

m ver. 21, 24

n ch. 8:5, 6, 16, 17; 9:22; 10:12, 21; 14:16, 21, 26

o ch. 17:9

p Ps. 78:44; 105:29

Exodus 7:9-20

9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ^a‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the ^bmagicians of Egypt, also ^cdid the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still ^dPharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, ^eas the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 15 ^fGo to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand ^gthe staff that turned into a ^hserpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The ⁱLord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, ^jthat they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. 17 Thus says the Lord, “By this ^kyou shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and ^lit shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will ^mgrow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ⁿstretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he ^olifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the ^pwater in the Nile turned into blood.