The Nile Turns to Blood

¹⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵Go to Pharaoh in the morning — he'll be heading down to the water. Wait for him on the bank of the Nile, and take with you the staff that turned into a serpent. ¹⁶You shall say to him, "The LORD God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.' And look, until now you would not listen." ¹⁷This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Watch — I will strike the waters of the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they will turn to blood. ¹⁸The fish in the river will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will loathe drinking the water from it. ¹⁹The LORD told Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch your hand out over every body of water in Egypt — over the rivers, the streams, the ponds, and every pool — and they will all turn to blood. There will be blood throughout the entire land of Egypt, even in their wooden buckets and stone jars.'" ²⁰Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded, and he lifted up the rod and struck the waters in the river in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters in the river were turned to blood. ²¹The fish in the river died, the stench was unbearable, and the Egyptians couldn't drink from the Nile. Blood was everywhere throughout the land of Egypt. ²²And the magicians of Egypt did the same with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened; he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said. ²³Pharaoh turned and went back into his palace, and he did not pay attention to this either. ²⁴All the Egyptians had to dig along the riverbanks to find drinkable water, because the river itself was undrinkable. ²⁵7 full days passed after the LORD struck the Nile.