Exodus 5:22-7:25
22 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why did you send me? 23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
6 The Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. Because of a mighty hand[a] he will send them away, and because of a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.”
God Promises Deliverance
2 Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name, the Lord, I was not known to them.[b] 4 I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they were residing as aliens. 5 I certainly have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 “Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will deliver you from being their slaves. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you to the land which I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”
9 Moses spoke these words to the Israelites, but they did not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and because of the hard labor. 10 The Lord spoke to Moses: 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the Israelites go from his land.”
12 But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, “Look, the Israelites have not listened to me. Why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am a poor speaker?”[c]
The Family Record of Moses and Aaron
13 The Lord again spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He commanded them to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
14 These were the heads of their fathers’ houses:[d]
The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and
Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the founders of the clans
of Reuben.
15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar,
and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the
founders of the clans of Simeon.
16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their family records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
17 The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei. They were founders of clans.
18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.
19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
These were the clans of the Levites according to their family records.
20 Amram[e] married Jochebed, his father’s sister, and she gave birth
to Aaron and Moses for him. Amram lived 137 years.
21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.
22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the
sister of Nahshon, and she gave birth to Nadab and Abihu,
Eleazar and Ithamar for him.
24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These
were the founders of the clans of the Korahites.
25 Eleazar, the son of Aaron, married one of the daughters of Putiel,
and she gave birth to Phinehas for him.
These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites that had become clans.
26 These were the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the Israelites from the land of Egypt according to their divisions.”[f] 27 These were the same ones who spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out from Egypt. These were that same Moses and Aaron.
28 On the day that the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything that I tell you.”
30 But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, “You see, I am a poor speaker. Why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
Moses and Aaron Appear Before Pharaoh
7 The Lord said to Moses, “Look, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. 2 You are to speak everything that I command you, and Aaron your brother is to speak to Pharaoh, so that he will let the Israelites go out from his land. 3 But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn. [g]I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my divisions, my people the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand over Egypt, and I bring out the Israelites from their midst.”
6 This is what Moses and Aaron did. Just as the Lord commanded them, that is exactly what they did. 7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake
8 The Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Give us a warning sign,’ then you are to tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’”
10 Then Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 But then Pharaoh also called for his wise men and sorcerers. Those magicians[h] of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. 12 They each threw down their staffs, and those staffs became snakes. However, Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 But Pharaoh’s heart was hard,[i] and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
The First Plague: Blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding.[j] He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When he goes out by the water, stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him. Take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake.
16 “You are to tell him: ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you. He says, “Let my people go so that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But look, until now you have not listened. 17 So this is what the Lord says: “In this way, you will know that I am the Lord.” Look! With the staff that is in my hand, I will strike the water in the Nile, and it will be turned to blood. 18 The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the Nile.’”
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its streams, its ponds, and all the reservoirs—and they will become blood. There will be blood in the entire land of Egypt, even in containers made of wood and stone.’”
20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile. All the water in the Nile was turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians were not able to drink water from the Nile. There was blood in the entire land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had told them. 23 Pharaoh turned and went to his palace. He did not take to heart even this. 24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they were not able to drink the water from the Nile. 25 Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
Footnotes:
- Exodus 6:1 Or with a strong hand. The question is whether Pharaoh is forcing them to go, or the Lord is forcing him to let them go.
- Exodus 6:3 The name Lord does appear in Genesis, so perhaps this means that the full impact and meaning of the name were not experienced by the patriarchs as they were during the events of Exodus. Others solve the problem by reading this as an unmarked question: Did I not make myself known to them?
- Exodus 6:12 Literally I am uncircumcised of lips. Also in verse 30.
- Exodus 6:14 In each successive generation, the tribal and clan elders were called the fathers of the clan.
- Exodus 6:20 From Levi to the birth of Moses is over three hundred years. Only three men are named to cover this period: Levi, Kohath, and Amram. If the Amram in verse 18 is the same man as the Amram in verse 20, it is likely that he is a descendant of Kohath rather than his son. Another possibility is that there are two Amrams: one the founder of the clan, the other the father of Moses.
- Exodus 6:26 Or military units
- Exodus 7:3 Literally stiff or resistant
- Exodus 7:11 Or sacred scribes or occult practitioners
- Exodus 7:13 Literally strong
- Exodus 7:14 Literally heavy
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
Matthew 18:21-19:12
The Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came up and asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but I tell you as many as seventy-seven times.[a] 23 For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle them, a man who owed him ten thousand talents[b] was brought to him. 25 Because the man was not able to pay the debt, his master ordered that he be sold, along with his wife, children, and all that he owned to repay the debt.
26 “Then the servant fell down on his knees in front of him, saying, ‘Master, be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ 27 The master of that servant had pity on him, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii.[c] He grabbed him and began choking him, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29 “So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ 30 But he refused. Instead he went off and threw the man into prison until he could pay back what he owed.
31 “When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were very distressed. They went and reported to their master everything that had taken place.
32 “Then his master called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt when you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 His master was angry and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay back everything he owed.
35 “This is what my heavenly Father will also do to you unless each one of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
Marriage and Divorce
19 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 Some Pharisees came in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
4 He answered, “Haven’t you read that from the beginning their Maker ‘made them male and female,’[d] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will be one flesh’?[e] 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
7 They asked him, “Then why did Moses command a man to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 Jesus said to them, “Because of your hard hearts, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but it was not that way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except on the grounds of her sexual immorality, and marries another woman is committing adultery.”[f]
10 His disciples said to him, “If this is the relationship of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For example, there are eunuchs who were born that way, and others who were castrated by people, and others who decided to remain unmarried because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this should accept it.”
Footnotes:
- Matthew 18:22 Or seventy times seven
- Matthew 18:24 Ten thousand talents was an enormous amount equal to sixty million days’ wages. Each talent was worth six thousand denarii. A denarius was one day’s wage.
- Matthew 18:28 This was one hundred days’ wages, since one denarius was equal to one day’s wage.
- Matthew 19:4 Genesis 1:27
- Matthew 19:5 Genesis 2:24
- Matthew 19:9 Some witnesses to the text add And the one who marries the divorced woman also commits adultery.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
Psalm 23
Psalm 23
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
Heading
A psalm by David.
The Shepherd Provides for His People
1 The Lord is my shepherd.
I lack nothing.
2 He causes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
The Shepherd Protects His People
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
The Royal Host Provides for His People
5 You set a table for me in the presence of my foes.
You drench my head with oil.[a]
My cup is overflowing.
6 Surely goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.[b]
Footnotes:
- Psalm 23:5 Scenting someone with perfumed olive oil was a part of celebrations. The verb used here is not the verb used for anointing someone to an office.
- Psalm 23:6 Literally for length of days or for days without end
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 5:22-23
22 The evil deeds of the wicked man will capture him,
and he will be bound by the ropes of his sin.
23 He will die for lack of discipline,
and he will go astray because of his great stupidity.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.