Study Desk

The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground." So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from the snake,

The Lord said, "This is so that the Israelites will believe that the Lord appeared to you. I am the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Put your hand inside your coat." So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took it out, it was white with a skin disease.

Then he said, "Now put your hand inside your coat again." So Moses put his hand inside his coat again. When he took it out, his hand was healthy again, like the rest of his skin.

So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and started back to Egypt. He took with him the walking stick of God.

I told you to let my son go so he may worship me. But you refused to let Israel go, so I will kill your firstborn son.'"

She said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because she had to circumcise her son. So the Lord let Moses alone.

After Moses and Aaron talked to the people, they went to the king of Egypt and said, "This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go so they may hold a feast for me in the desert.'"

So the slave masters and foremen went to the Israelites and said, "This is what the king says: I will no longer give you straw.

So the people went everywhere in Egypt looking for dry stalks to use for straw.

So they said to Moses and Aaron, "May the Lord punish you. You caused the king and his officers to hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us."

So tell the people of Israel that I say to them, ‘I am the Lord . I will save you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do. I will make you free, so you will not be slaves to the Egyptians. I will free you by my great power, and I will punish the Egyptians terribly.

So Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to him. They were discouraged, and their slavery was hard.

But Moses answered, "The Israelites will not listen to me, so surely the king will not listen to me either. I am not a good speaker."

but he will still refuse to listen. So then I will punish Egypt terribly, and I will lead my divisions, my people the Israelites, out of that land.

So Moses and Aaron went to the king as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his walking stick down in front of the king and his officers, and it became a snake.

So the king called in his wise men and his magicians, and with their tricks the Egyptian magicians were able to do the same thing.

So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. In front of the king and his officers, Aaron raised his walking stick and struck the water in the Nile River. So all the water in the Nile changed into blood.

The fish in the Nile died, and the river began to stink, so the Egyptians could not drink water from it. Blood was everywhere in the land of Egypt.

Using their tricks, the magicians of Egypt did the same thing. So the king was stubborn and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.