1. Then the lord said to Moses, “Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet.
2. Tell Aaron everything I command you, and Aaron must command Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave his country.
3. But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.
4. Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment.
5. When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the lord.”
6. So Moses and Aaron did just as the lord had commanded them.
7. Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh.
8. Then the lord said to Moses and Aaron,
9. “Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’”
10. So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent!