Pharaoh

So the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way?

When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them.

“May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!”

Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”

But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let the people go; because of My strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

“Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.”

But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?”

Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

He said to him, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you.”

But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.

You are to speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land.

But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,

Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay My hand on Egypt, and by mighty acts of judgment I will bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.”

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.

Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.

Go to Pharaoh in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.

Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood.

But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart.