The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

⭑ Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 7 -

And the Lord said to Moses: Behold I have appointed thee the God of Pharao: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

Thou 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.

But I shall harden his heart, and shall multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,

And 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.

And 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.

And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded: so did they.

And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharao.

Aaron’s Staff

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

When 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.

So 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.

And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians: and they also by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets did in like manner.

And they every one cast down their rods, and they were turned into serpents: but Aaron’s rod devoured their rods.

And Pharao’s heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord had commanded.

The First Plague: Blood

And the Lord said to Moses: Pharao’s heart is hardened, he will not let the people go.

Go 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.

And 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.

Thus therefore saith the Lord: In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold I will strike with the rods that is in my hand, the water of the river, and it shall be turned into blood.

And 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.

The 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.

And 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.

And 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.

And 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.

And he turned himself away and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to it this time also.

And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink: for they could not drink of the water of the river.

And seven days were fully ended, after that the Lord struck the river.

The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.

You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring out my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring the children of Israel out from among them.”

Moses and Aaron did so. As the LORD commanded them, so they did.

Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff

The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’”

Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as the LORD had commanded. Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments.

For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.

The First Plague: Blood

The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go.

Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand.

You shall tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. Behold, until now you haven’t listened.”

The LORD says, “In this you shall know that I am the LORD. Behold: I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

The fish that are in the river will die and the river will become foul. The Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the river.”’”

The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood. There will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

The fish that were in the river died. The river became foul. The Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river. The blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.

The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.

Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart.

All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink the river water.

Seven days were fulfilled, after the LORD had struck the river.