God reassured Moshe that He will keep His promise to the forefathers to bring the nation into the Land of Cana’an (Israel). God heard the crying out of the enslaved Israelites; He instructed Moshe to tell them that He will redeem them from slavery. The Israelites, exhausted from their labour, did not accept Moshe’s reassurances.
The Torah detailed the genealogy of Moshe and Aharon. They are the sons of Amram and Yocheved, who were both descendants of Levi, the third son of Yaakov. Moshe re-expressed his reluctance to speak to Pharaoh, given his speech impediment. God restated that Aharon will be Moshe’s spokesman. God will harden Pharaoh’s heart and He will send plagues. This will make Egypt aware of God’s omnipotence.
Upon God’s command, Aharon threw down his stick in front of Pharaoh; it turned into a snake. Pharaoh’s magicians duplicated this. However, Aharon’s stick swallowed up all the other sticks.
The 1st Plague: Moshe and Aharon confronted Pharaoh while he was bathing in the Nile and warned him that if he does not let the Israelites leave, the waters of Egypt will turn to blood. Pharaoh ignored the warning; Aharon struck the water with a stick and it turned into blood. Pharaoh’s magicians duplicated this. The plague lasted a week.
The 2nd Plague: Aharon struck the waters of the Nile. A plague of frogs emerged, which covered Egypt. Pharaoh asked Moshe to pray for the frogs to die.
The 3rd Plague: Aharon struck the ground with his stick and lice spread all over Egypt. The Egyptian magicians failed to duplicate this, admitting it was the ‘finger of God’.
The 4th Plague: A plague of wild beasts spread over Egypt, apart from Goshen, where the Israelites lived. Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites leave for three days to bring offerings in the desert. Moshe prayed for the plague to stop but Pharaoh reneged on his promise.
The 5th Plague: The Egyptian livestock was killed, but the Israelites’ animals were untouched.
The 6th Plague: Moshe threw a fistful of ash in the sky. This turned into dust covering all of Egypt, which then turned into boils on the Egyptians and their animals. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
The 7th Plague: A fiery hail fell on all of Egypt, apart from Goshen. Pharaoh admitted that he had sinned and that God is righteous. After Moshe prayed for the hail to stop, Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go.