The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday January 30, 2017 (NIV)

The Plague of Locusts

10 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I’ve hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials^[a] in order to perform^[b] these signs of mine among them,^{[c] 2} so you may tell^[d] your children and your grandchildren how I toyed with the Egyptians and about my miraculous signs that I performed among them, so all of you^[e] may know that I am the Lord.

³ Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the Lord God of the Hebrews says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so they may serve^[f] me. ⁴ But if you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I’m going to bring locusts into your territory. ⁵ They’ll cover the surface of the land so a person^[g] cannot see the ground, and they’ll eat what is left for you of the residue from the hail. They’ll also eat all your trees that grow in the orchards. ⁶ Your houses will be filled, along with the houses of all your officials^[h] and the houses of all the Egyptians—something that neither your fathers nor your ancestors ever saw from the time they were on earth until now.’” Then Moses^[i] turned and left Pharaoh’s presence.

⁷ Then the officials^[j] of Pharaoh told him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go so they may serve the Lord their God! Don’t you realize yet that Egypt is about to be destroyed?”

⁸ Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh and he told them, “Go, serve^[k] the Lord your God. But exactly who^[l] will go?”

⁹ Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and our daughters, with our sheep and our cattle, because it’s a festival to the Lord for us.”

¹⁰ Then Pharaoh^[m] told them, “The Lord will certainly^[n] be with you if I let you and your little ones go. I know^[o] some evil plan is in your mind.^{[p] 11} No! Let the men go and serve^[q] the Lord, for that is what you were seeking.” Then they were driven out from the presence of Pharaoh.

¹² The Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt to bring^[r] the locusts, and they’ll come up over the land of Egypt and eat all the vegetation of the land, everything that the hail left.” ¹³ Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord sent an east wind into the land all that day and throughout^[s] the night. When morning came, the east wind brought the locusts.

¹⁴ The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on all the territory of Egypt in great swarms.^[t] There had never been locusts like this before nor would there ever be again. ¹⁵ They covered the surface of the entire land so that it^[u] was dark. They ate all the vegetation of the land and the fruit from the trees that the hail left. Nothing green was left on the trees or on the vegetation in all the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron and said, “I’ve sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now, please forgive my sin only this time, and pray to the Lord your God that he would at least remove this^[v] from me.”

¹⁸ Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then the Lord brought^[w] a very strong west wind that took the locusts and drove them into the Reed^[x] Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn^[y] and he would not let the Israelis go.

The Plague of Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord told Moses, “Stretch your hand toward the sky and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that one can feel.” ²² So Moses stretched his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³ No one could see anyone else, nor could anyone get up from his place for three days. But there was light for all the Israelis in their dwellings.

²⁴ Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go serve^[z] the Lord, but your flocks and your cattle are to remain. Even your little ones can go with you!”

²⁵ Moses said, “You must let us have^[aa] sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to the Lord our God. ²⁶ And even our livestock must go with us. Not a hoof will be left behind because we will use^[ab] some of them to serve the Lord our God, and until we get there we won’t know what we need to serve^[ac] the Lord.”

²⁷ The Lord made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn,^[ad] and he did not want to let them go. ²⁸ Then Pharaoh told him, “Get away from me! Watch out that you never see my face again, because on the day you see my face, you will die!”

²⁹ Moses said, “Just as you have said, I won’t see your face again!”

Warning of the Death of the Firstborn

11 Then the Lord told Moses, “I’ll bring one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt. After that he’ll let you leave from here, and when he lets you go, he will certainly drive you out from here. ² Tell^[ae] the people that each man is to ask his neighbor and each woman her neighbor for articles of silver and gold.”

³ The Lord made the Egyptians look on the people with favor. Also the man Moses was highly regarded^[af] in the land of Egypt, both in the opinion^[ag] of Pharaoh’s officials^[ah] and in the opinion^[ai] of the people.

⁴ So Moses announced to Pharaoh,^[aj] “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I’m going throughout Egypt, ⁵ and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the slave girl who operates^[ak] the hand mill, along with the firstborn of the animals. ⁶ There will be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt, like there has never been and never will be again. ⁷ But among the Israelis, from people to animals, not even a dog will bark,^[al] so you may know that the Lord is distinguishing between the Egyptians and the Israelis.’ ⁸ All these officials^[am] of yours will come down to me, prostrate themselves to me, and say, ‘Get out, you and all the people following^[an] you!’ After that I’ll go out.” Then Moses^[ao] angrily left Pharaoh.

⁹ The Lord told Moses, “Pharaoh won’t listen to you. As a result, my wonders will increase throughout the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders in front of Pharaoh, but the Lord made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn,^[ap] and he would not let the Israelis go out from his land.

The Passover is Instituted

12 The Lord told Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ² “This month will mark the beginning of months for you. It will be the first month of the year for you. ³ Tell the entire congregation of Israel, ‘On the tenth of this month they’re each to take a lamb for themselves, according to their ancestors’ households, one lamb for each household. ⁴ If a household is too small for a lamb, then it and its closest neighbor are to obtain one based on the number of individuals—dividing^[aq] the lamb based on what each person can eat. ⁵ Your lamb is to be a year old male without blemish. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ It is to remain under your care until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the entire assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. ⁷ They’re to take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat the lamb.^{[ar] 8} That very night they’re to eat the meat, roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹ Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled in water. Instead, roast it over the fire, with its head, legs, and internal organs. ¹⁰ Don’t leave any of it until morning, and whatever does remain of it until morning you are to burn in the fire.

¹¹ “‘This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it hurriedly—it’s the Lord’s Passover. ¹² I’ll pass through the land of Egypt that night and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I’ll execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. I’ll see the blood and pass over you. There will be no plague to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

The Workers in the Vineyard

20 “The kingdom from^[a] heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing to pay the workers one denarius^[b] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ When he went out about nine o’clock,^[c] he saw others standing in the marketplace without work. ⁴ He told them, ‘You go into the vineyard, too, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵ So off they went. He went out again about noon^[d] and about three o’clock^[e] and did the same thing. ⁶ About five o’clock^[f] he went out and found some others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why are you standing here all day long without work?’ ⁷ They told him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He told them, ‘You go into the vineyard as well.’

⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his manager, ‘Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with^[g] the first.’ ⁹ Those who were hired at five o’clock^[h] came, and each received a denarius.

¹⁰ “When the first came, they thought they would receive more, but each received a denarius as well. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner, ¹² ‘These last fellows worked only one hour, but you paid them the same as us, and we’ve been working all day,^[i] enduring the scorching heat!’

¹³ “But he told one of them, ‘Friend, I’m not treating you unfairly. You did agree with me for a denarius, didn’t you? ¹⁴ Take what is yours and go. I want to give this last man as much as I gave you.^{[j] 15} I am allowed to do what I want with my own money,^[k] am I not? Or are you envious^[l] because I’m generous?’

¹⁶ “In the same way, the last will be first, and the first will be last, because many are called, but few are chosen.”^[m]

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time^(A)

¹⁷ When Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples^[n] aside and told them as they were walking along, ¹⁸ “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. ¹⁹ Then they will hand him over to unbelievers^[o] to be mocked, whipped, and crucified, but on the third day he will be raised.”

The Request of James and John^(B)

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus^[p] with her sons. She bowed down in front of him to ask him for a favor. ²¹ He asked her, “What do you want?”

She told him, “Promise^[q] that in your kingdom these two sons of mine will sit on your right and on your left.”

²² Jesus replied, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink from the cup that I’m going to drink from?”^[r]

They told him, “We can.”

²³ He told them, “You will indeed drink from my cup. But it’s not up to me to grant you a seat at my right hand or at my left. These positions have already been prepared for others by my Father.”

²⁴ When the ten heard this, they became furious with the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called the disciples^[s] and said, “You know that the rulers of the unbelievers^[t] lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them. ²⁶ That’s not the way it should be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. ²⁸ That’s the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

Davidic^[a]

A Prayer for Help and Forgiveness

The Folly of Laziness