And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
The Lord spake ... Go unto Pharaoh. The infliction of the first plague, as a judgment of God, produced no good effect upon Pharaoh; and Moses was commanded to wait on the king and threaten him, in the event of his confirmed obstinacy, with a new and different visitation. Since Pharaoh's answer is not given, it may be inferred to have been unfavourable, because the rod was again raised.