Exodus 7:14-24

Water Is Turned to Blood

14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go.

15 "Go to Pharaoh in the morning as ¹he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand ²the staff that was turned into a serpent.

16 "³You shall say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, "⁴Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now."

17 'Thus says the LORD, "⁵By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and ⁶it will be turned to blood.

18 "⁷The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will ⁸find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.""'

19 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and ⁹stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.' "

20 So Moses and Aaron did even as the LORD had commanded. And he lifted up ¹⁰the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and ¹¹all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood.

21 The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt.

22 ¹²But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

23 Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house with no concern * even for this.

24 So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile.

Exodus 7:14-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 7

Moses and Aaron are ordered to go to Pharaoh, and require the dismission of the people of Israel, but they are told before hand that Pharaoh's heart would be hardened, and would refuse to let them go, until the hand of the Lord was stretched out, and great judgments were brought down upon, Egypt, and then they should come forth, Ex 7:1-5, which orders Moses and Aaron obeyed, and their age is observed, when this was done, Ex 7:6,7 and they are bid to work a miracle, when Pharaoh should demand one, by turning a rod into a serpent, which they did; but Pharaoh's magicians doing the same in appearance, his heart was hardened, Ex 7:8-14 and then they are directed to meet him at the river, and require the same as before; and if he refused, to smite the waters of the river with the rod, and turn them into blood, which they did, Ex 7:15-21, but Pharaoh's magicians doing the same by enchantments, he did not regard it, though the plague lasted seven days, Ex 7:22-25.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 2:5; Exodus 8:20
• 2. Exodus 4:2, 3; Exodus 7:10
• 3. Exodus 3:13, 18; Exodus 4:22; Exodus 5:1
• 4. Exodus 4:23; Exodus 5:1, 3
• 5. Exodus 5:2; Exodus 7:5; Exodus 10:2; Psalms 9:16; Ezekiel 25:17
• 6. Exodus 4:9; Exodus 7:20; Revelation 11:6; Revelation 16:4, 6
• 7. Exodus 7:21
• 8. Exodus 7:24
• 9. Ex 8:5, 6, 16; Exodus 9:22; Exodus 10:12, 21; Exodus 14:21, 26
• 10. Exodus 17:5
• 11. Psalms 78:44; Psalms 105:29
• 12. Exodus 7:11; Exodus 8:7

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "hard;" lit "heavy"
• [b]. Lit "behold"
• [c]. Lit "upon the waters"
• [d]. I.e. have a bad smell
• [e]. Or "be weary of"
• [f]. Or "canals"
• [g]. Lit "with the staff"
• [h]. I.e. had a bad smell
• [i]. Or "soothsayer priests"
• [j]. Lit "thus"
• [k]. Lit "strong"
• [l]. Lit "and he did not set his heart even to this"