^17 (A) “The Lord is going to do something to show you that he really is the Lord. I will strike the Nile with this stick, and the water will turn into blood. ¹⁸ The fish will die, the river will stink, and none of you Egyptians will be able to drink the water.”

¹⁹ Moses, then command Aaron to hold his stick over the water. And when he does, every drop of water in Egypt will turn into blood, including rivers, canals, ponds, and even the water in buckets and jars.

²⁰ Moses and Aaron obeyed the Lord. Aaron held out his stick, then struck the Nile, as the king and his officials watched. The river turned into blood, ²¹ the fish died, and the water smelled so bad that none of the Egyptians could drink it. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.