Exodus 7:9

⁷ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

¹¹ But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: “When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.”
KJV: When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.
WEB: “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’”
ASV: When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Show a wonder for you; then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent.
DARBY: When Pharaoh shall speak to you, saying, Do a miracle for yourselves, then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy staff and cast [it] before Pharaoh it will become a serpent.
BLB: “When Pharaoh speaks to you⁺, saying, ‘Give for yourselves a wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast [it] down before the face of Pharaoh,’ let it become a monster.”

ÅB: Når Farao taler til dere og sier: La meg få se et under av dere, da skal du si til Aron: Ta din stav og kast den ned foran Farao! Og den skal bli til en slange.
OTB: «Når farao sier til dere: ‘Utfør et mirakel,’ skal du si til Aron: ‘Ta staven din og kast den ned foran farao, og den skal bli til en slange.’»
B1930: Når Farao taler til eder og sier: La mig få se et under av eder, da skal du si til Aron: Ta din stav og kast den ned foran Farao! Og den skal bli til en slange.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Exodus 4:2
And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.
Read in context
Isaiah 7:11
“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
Read in context
John 2:18
On account of this, the Jews demanded, “What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?”
Read in context
John 6:30
So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do?
Read in context
Exodus 4:17
But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”
Read in context
Exodus 10:13
So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the LORD sent an east wind across the land. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.
Read in context
Matthew 12:39
Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Read in context
Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’
Read in context