14 Then Yahweh told Mosheh, “Far’oh is very stubborn and he’s refused to let the people go. 15 So go to Far’oh. Listen, every morning he goes down to the river, so station yourself to meet him on the bank. Take the staff with you that turned into a snake, 16 and tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, previously sent me to you to say, “Let my people go so they can serve me in the wilderness.” But listen, until now you haven’t done it 17 so Yahweh says, “Now you will know that I am Yahweh because of this: See, I’m about to use my staff to strike the water in the Nile and it will turn to blood[ref] 18 and the fish in the river will die and the river will stink. Then your people will gag to drink the water from the river.” ’

19 “Tell Aharon to take his staff and stretch out his hand over the waters of Egypt: over their streams, their canals, and their pools, and over every reservoir of their water, and the water will become blood. Then there’ll be blood in the entire country—even in wooden or stone containers of water.”

20 So And Mosheh and Aharon did exactly what Yahweh had commanded: Aharon raised the staff and struck the river, while Far’oh and his servants watched, and the entire river turned to blood. 21 Then the fish in the river died and the river stank, so the Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river, and the blood was all over Egypt. 22 But the Egyptian sorcerers did the same with their magic, and so Far’oh stayed stubborn and wouldn’t listen to them, just as Yahweh had said earlier. 23 The Far’oh turned around and went back to his house, and he put all of that out of his mind. 24 Meanwhile, all the Egyptians dug holes around the river to get water to drink, because river water was undrinkable.