Exodus 7:21

ESV And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

NIV The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

NASB Then the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt.

CSB The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt.

NLT The fish in the river died, and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it. There was blood everywhere throughout the land of Egypt.

KJV And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

NKJV The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

What does Exodus 7:21 mean?

At the Lord's command, Moses and Aaron have confronted Pharaoh (Exodus 7:14–16) and triggered the first of ten great plagues on Egypt (Exodus 3:19–20). The first catastrophe is turning the water of Egypt into blood (Exodus 7:17–20). What follows are the expected consequences of replacing water with bodily fluid. Fish die, everything decomposes and rots, and there is nothing for crops, livestock, or people to drink. This plague affects not only the river, but also the stored water, ponds, and pools throughout the land (Exodus 7:19). This will last long enough to threaten lives (Exodus 7:25).

One effect of this plague is Egypt suffering the results of its own evil. When Pharaoh first rejected the command to free Israel (Exodus 5:1–4), he spitefully made the slaves (Exodus 1:11–14) scramble and toil to find the straw which had once been provided (Exodus 5:6–9). Now, the Egyptians must struggle to find water, which was once abundant (Exodus 7:24). Egypt once murdered Israelite children in the Nile (Exodus 1:22), now that blood symbolically comes back against them.

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