Exodus 7
25 verses
Exodus 7 opens the contest between the God of Israel and the gods of Egypt, and the opening move is a declaration of sovereignty: I have made you like God to Pharaoh. Moses is eighty, Aaron eighty-three. When Aaron's staff becomes a serpent and the Egyptian magicians replicate the sign, Aaron's serpent swallows theirs — a small but decisive preview of what is coming. Then the first plague begins: the Nile turns to blood. Every water source in Egypt — the river the Egyptians called a god, the source of their agricultural life — becomes blood. Fish die. The water is undrinkable. Yet Pharaoh's magicians replicate this too, Pharaoh's heart remains hard, and he walks away. The hardening of Pharaoh's heart, which will recur throughout the plague narrative, is both a judicial act — God confirming a direction Pharaoh has already chosen — and a theological statement about how resistance to God eventually becomes its own punishment. Romans 9:17 quotes God's purpose in raising up Pharaoh: that His name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER
1
And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
0 0Open verse page →
2
Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.
0 1Open verse page →
3
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
0 0Open verse page →
4
But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
0 0Open verse page →
5
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
0 0Open verse page →
6
And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, so did they.
0 0Open verse page →
7
And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.
0 0Open verse page →
8
And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
0 0Open verse page →
9
When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.
0 0Open verse page →
10
And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
0 0Open verse page →
11
Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
0 0Open verse page →
12
For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
0 0Open verse page →
13
And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.
0 0Open verse page →
14
And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
0 0Open verse page →
15
Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.
0 0Open verse page →
16
And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.
0 0Open verse page →
17
Thus saith the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
0 0Open verse page →
18
And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.
0 0Open verse page →
19
And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.
0 0Open verse page →
20
And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
0 0Open verse page →
21
And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
0 1Open verse page →
22
And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the Lord had said.
0 0Open verse page →
23
And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.
0 0Open verse page →
24
And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.
0 0Open verse page →
25
And seven days were fulfilled, after that the Lord had smitten the river.
0 0Open verse page →
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS