¹² Now then go, and ^(A)I, even I, will be with your mouth, and ^(B)teach you what you are to say.”

³⁰ and ^(A)Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the ^(B)signs in the sight of the people.

“I Will Stretch Out My Hand”

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(A)See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. ² You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother ^(B)Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. ³ But ^(C)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may ^(D)multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ When ^(E)Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and ^(F)bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by ^(G)great judgments. ^5 (H)The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(I)stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron did it; ^(J)as the Lord commanded them, thus they did. ⁷ Moses was ^(K)eighty years old and Aaron ^[a]eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Serpent

⁸ Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘^[b](L)Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘^(M)Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and ^[c]his servants, and it ^(N)became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh also ^(O)called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the ^[d](P)magicians of Egypt, did ^[e]the same with ^(Q)their secret arts. ¹² For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Yet ^(R)Pharaoh’s heart was ^[f]hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Water Is Turned to Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is ^[g]stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning ^[h]as ^(S)he 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 ^(T)the staff that was turned into a serpent. ^16 (U)You shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “^(V)Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, “^(W)By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike ^[i]the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and ^(X)it will be turned to blood. ^18 (Y)The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will ^[j]become foul, and the Egyptians will ^[k](Z)find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^(AA)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their ^[l]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 ^[m](AB)the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and ^(AC)all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile ^[n]became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. ^22 (AD)But the ^[o]magicians of Egypt did ^[p]the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was ^[q]hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. ²³ Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house ^[r]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. ²⁵ Seven days ^[s]passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

⁵ Then the Lord ^(A)put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.”

¹² He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak ^(A)what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

¹⁶ Then the Lord met Balaam and ^(A)put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet from among their ^[a]countrymen like you, and ^(A)I will put My words in his mouth, and ^(B)he shall speak to them all that I command him.

¹⁶ I have ^(A)put My words in your mouth and have ^(B)covered you with the shadow of My hand, to ^[a](C)establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

²¹ “As for Me, this is My ^(A)covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My ^(B)Spirit which is upon you, and My ^(C)words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your ^[a]offspring, nor from the mouth of your ^[b]offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”