¹⁷ But take this staff^(A) in your hand^(B) so you can perform the signs^(C) with it.”

²⁰ So Moses took his wife and sons,^(A) put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff^(B) of God in his hand.

¹⁸ He said, “What pledge should I give you?”

“Your seal^(A) and its cord, and the staff^(B) in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.^(C)

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff^(A) and stretch out your hand^(B) over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels^[a] of wood and stone.”