Moses and Aaron caused the Nile River to become red

14 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “The king is very stubborn [IDM]. He refuses to allow my people to go. 15 So tomorrow morning, go to him as he is going down to the Nile River to bathe. Wait for him at the riverbank. When he comes out of the water, show him the stick, the one which became a snake. 16 Say to him, ‘Yahweh God, the one we Hebrews worship, sent me to you to tell you to let my people go, in order that they may worship him in the desert. We told you that, but you have not paid any attention to it. 17 So now Yahweh says this: “This is the way you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do. Watch this: I am going to strike the water that is in the Nile River with the stick that is in my hand. When I do that, the water will become blood (OR, red like blood [MTY]). 18 Then the fish in the Nile River will die, and the water in the river will stink, and the Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the Nile River.” ’ ”

19 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “When you are talking to the king, say to Aaron, ‘Hold your stick out as though you were holding it over the water in Egypt—over the rivers, the canals, the ponds, and over the pools of water, in order that all of it may become red like blood.’ When Aaron does that, there will be blood throughout Egypt, even in wooden jars and in stone jars.”

20 So Aaron and Moses/I did what Yahweh commanded. As the king and his officials were watching, Aaron lifted up his stick and then struck the water in the Nile River with it. And all the water in the river turned red like blood. 21 Then all the fish died. And the water stank, with the result that the Egyptians could not drink water from the river. Everywhere in Egypt the water became red like blood. 22 But the men who performed magic did the same thing using their magic. So the king remained stubborn [IDM], and he would not pay attention to what Aaron and Moses/I said, just as Yahweh had predicted. 23 The king turned and went back to his palace, and he did not think any more about it [IDM]. 24 The Egyptians [HYP] dug into the ground near the Nile River to get water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.