Exodus 7:1-12

New American Standard Bible

I Will Extend My Hand

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(A)See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. ² As for you, 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, so that I may ^(D)multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ When ^(E)Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay My hand on Egypt and ^(F)bring out My armies, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by ^(G)great judgments. ⁵ Then ^(H)the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(I)extend My hand over Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron did this; ^(J)as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷ And Moses was ^(K)eighty years old and Aaron ^[a]eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff Turns into 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, so that it may turn into a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and so they did, just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and ^[c]his servants, and it ^(N)turned into a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh also ^(O)called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they too, the ^(P)soothsayer priests of Egypt, did 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 their staffs.