New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet.
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God told Moses, "Look at me. I'll make you as a god to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
2 Tell Aaron everything I command you, and Aaron must command Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave his country.
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You are to speak everything I command you, and your brother Aaron will tell it to Pharaoh. Then he will release the Israelites from his land.
3 But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.
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At the same time I am going to put Pharaoh's back up and follow it up by filling Egypt with signs and wonders.
4 Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment.
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Pharaoh is not going to listen to you, but I will have my way against Egypt and bring out my soldiers, my people the Israelites, from Egypt by mighty acts of judgment.
5 When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD .”
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The Egyptians will realize that I am God when I step in and take the Israelites out of their country."
6 So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them.
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Moses and Aaron did exactly what God commanded.
7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh.
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Moses was eighty and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
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Then God spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said,
9 “Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent. ’”
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"When Pharaoh speaks to you and says, 'Prove yourselves. Perform a miracle,' then tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh: It will turn into a snake.'"
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the LORD had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent!
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Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what God commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his servants, and it turned into a snake.
11 Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic.
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Pharaoh called in his wise men and sorcerers. The magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their incantations:
12 They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
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each man threw down his staff and they all turned into snakes. But then Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs.
13 Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted.
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Yet Pharaoh was as stubborn as ever - he wouldn't listen to them, just as God had said. Strike One: Blood
14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, and he still refuses to let the people go.
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God said to Moses: "Pharaoh is a stubborn man. He refuses to release the people.
15 So go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes down to the river. Stand on the bank of the Nile and meet him there. Be sure to take along the staff that turned into a snake.
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First thing in the morning, go and meet Pharaoh as he goes down to the river. At the shore of the Nile take the staff that turned into a snake
16 Then announce to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Until now, you have refused to listen to him.
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and say to him, 'God, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you with this message, "Release my people so that they can worship me in the wilderness." So far you haven't listened.
17 So this is what the LORD says: “I will show you that I am the LORD .” Look! I will strike the water of the Nile with this staff in my hand, and the river will turn to blood.
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This is how you'll know that I am God. I am going to take this staff that I'm holding and strike this Nile River water: The water will turn to blood;
18 The fish in it will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’”
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the fish in the Nile will die; the Nile will stink; and the Egyptians won't be able to drink the Nile water.'"
19 Then the LORD said to Moses: “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and raise your hand over the waters of Egypt—all its rivers, canals, ponds, and all the reservoirs. Turn all the water to blood. Everywhere in Egypt the water will turn to blood, even the water stored in wooden bowls and stone pots.’”
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God said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and wave it over the waters of Egypt - over its rivers, its canals, its ponds, all its bodies of water - so that they turn to blood.' There'll be blood everywhere in Egypt - even in the pots and pans."
20 So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood!
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Moses and Aaron did exactly as God commanded them. Aaron raised his staff and hit the water in the Nile with Pharaoh and his servants watching. All the water in the Nile turned into blood.
21 The fish in the river died, and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it. There was blood everywhere throughout the land of Egypt.
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The fish in the Nile died; the Nile stank; and the Egyptians couldn't drink the Nile water. The blood was everywhere in Egypt.
22 But again the magicians of Egypt used their magic, and they, too, turned water into blood. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted.
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But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their incantations. Still Pharaoh remained stubborn. He wouldn't listen to them as God had said.
23 Pharaoh returned to his palace and put the whole thing out of his mind.
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He turned on his heel and went home, never giving it a second thought.
24 Then all the Egyptians dug along the riverbank to find drinking water, for they couldn’t drink the water from the Nile.
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But all the Egyptians had to dig inland from the river for water because they couldn't drink the Nile water.
25 Seven days passed from the time the LORD struck the Nile.
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Seven days went by after God had struck the Nile.
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