Now the Children of Israel were making brick and building the walls of houses and towers; and the way to make brick was to take clay and mix it with straw and bake it; and the taskmasters provided the straw. But the taskmasters heard what Pharaoh said, and they stopped the supply of straw. “You must get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it: but you must make just as many bricks as you made before.” And when the Children of Israel could not do it, they were beaten with whips. So they cried out against Moses, saying, “You have done us harm instead of good.” Then Moses and Aaron went again to Pharaoh, and Aaron had a rod in his hand, and he threw it on the floor at the king’s feet, and the rod became a serpent. But Egypt was a great place for tricks of magic. Pharaoh had magicians at his court, who performed before him every day. So he called for two magicians, and in came Jannes and Jambres, each with a rod, and they cast their rods on the floor, and in a moment there were two more wriggling serpents fighting with Aaron’s serpent. And although Aaron’s serpent chased these two and ate them up, Pharaoh only laughed, and would not let the people go. But the next morning, when the king went down to the river, there was Moses waiting for him. And Moses said, “Pharaoh, if you will not let the people go, God will make this river red like blood, so that nobody may drink out of it.” And so it was. That great river, the Nile, which flows through the midst of Egypt, was red like blood, for a whole week. But when it cleared again, Pharaoh said, “I have seen it like that many a time, after the spring rains.” And he would not let the people go. Then Moses called again upon the king, and said, “Pharaoh, if you still refuse, God will bring frogs out of the river till they cover all the land.” And so it was. The frogs came: first, along the bank; then, across the road so that nobody could go that way; then in crowds and crowds, crawling and hopping and skipping, up the streets and up the lanes and up the steps of houses. And at night, there were frogs in the bed; and in the morning, at breakfast, there were frogs on the table. And Pharaoh said, “This is more than I can bear. Take away the frogs, and I will do whatever you wish.” But after the frogs had gone back into the river, Pharaoh said, “That was not so very bad. Almost every year, we have a plague of frogs.” And he would not let the people go.