²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those ^(A)wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But ^(B)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

The First Plague: Waters Become Blood

¹⁴ So the Lord said to Moses: ^(A)“Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go.

¹² But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he ^(A)did not heed them, just ^(B)as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

²⁷ But the Lord ^(A)hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; ^(A)and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

⁴ Then ^(A)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I ^(B)will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, ^(C)that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

²⁰ For ^(A)it was of the Lord ^[a]to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, ^(B)as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁸ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He ^(A)hardens.