Reading Exodus 7:14-24 (NLT) ~ Scripture reading followed by discussion. God’s miracle is mimicked by Pharaoh’s magicians on a much smaller scale. The miracles being perceived as plagues. The serpent and the blood were meant to cause a fright. The miracles addressing the gods of Egypt. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and begins with a fright making us aware of our own mortality and shortcomings.