Category: DAB Readings

¹⁹ When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot-drivers drove into the sea, the Eternal caused the waters to collapse upon them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

²⁰ The prophetess, Miriam (Aaron’s sister), picked up a tambourine, and all the rest of the women followed her with tambourines and joyful dancing.

²² Then Moses led Israel away from the Red Sea, and they entered the desert of Shur. They traveled for three days in the desert before they found water.

²³ When they came to the place where they did find water, they could not drink it because it was so bitter. So they called the place Marah, or bitter. ²⁴ Because they were very thirsty, the people complained to Moses.

²⁵ Moses then asked the Eternal for help, and the Eternal showed him a log. Moses threw the log into the bitter water, and the water became sweet. At Marah the Eternal established an important principle and set a standard for His people so that He could test them.

²⁷ Then they traveled on to an oasis called Elim, where there were 12 freshwater springs and 70 palm trees with dates. They set up camp there next to the waters.

16 Then the entire community of Israel departed from Elim and entered the desert of Sin, which is located between Elim and Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from Egypt.

² As soon as they got to the desert of Sin, the entire community of Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron.

¹⁰ While Aaron was speaking to the entire community of the Israelites, they all looked out toward the desert, and the radiant glory of the Eternal could be seen in the cloud. ¹¹ The Eternal spoke to Moses.

¹³ That evening, quail flew in and covered the camp; and when morning arrived, what seemed to be ordinary dew was all around the camp.

¹⁴ But when the dew evaporated, it left behind a thin, mysterious, flaky substance that looked like frost on top of the dry desert ground. ¹⁵ The people of Israel went out to examine it. They had never seen anything quite like it.

The people didn’t have a clue what this strange substance was.

¹⁷ The Israelites did as they were told. Some people gathered a lot, others gathered less. ¹⁸ When they used a two-quart jar to measure it, the one who had gathered a lot didn’t have more than he needed; and the one who gathered less had just what he needed.^[c] Miraculously, each person and each family—regardless of how much they gathered—had exactly what they needed.

²⁰ But some people ignored Moses and tried to keep some of it until the next morning. Overnight it became wormy and started to have a dreadful smell. Moses became furious with them because they had disobeyed God’s instructions.

²¹ Every morning the people went out and gathered it—each family took only what it needed. By the time the sun became hot, it had melted away. ²² On the sixth day the people went out and gathered, but they came back with twice as much as usual—four quarts per person. All the leaders of the community thought they needed to tell Moses what had happened.

²⁴ So the people stored some of it until the next morning, just as Moses had instructed. None of it spoiled, nor did it have any worms.

²⁷ When the seventh day arrived, some of the people ignored Moses and went out to gather it anyway; but there was none to gather.

³⁰ So the people did as God directed and rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The community of Israel decided to name this mysterious substance “manna” (which means, “What is it?”). It was white like a coriander seed, and it tasted sweet like honey wafers.

³⁴ Aaron did as the Eternal commanded. He stored the jar before the covenant to keep it safe.

³⁵ For 40 years, the Israelites were sustained by the manna God supplied. They ate it until they arrived at the borderlands of Canaan, the edge of the land they would one day inhabit. (³⁶ And their omer was a two-quart measurement and in turn was one-tenth of an ephah.)^[d]

17 The entire community of Israel traveled in stages out of the desert of Sin, just as the Eternal instructed. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there to quench their thirst. ² Once again the people complained to Moses.

³ But the people were so thirsty for water, they complained to Moses and leveled accusations against him.

⁴ Moses had had enough of their complaints, so he cried out to the Eternal One.

The elders of Israel accompanied Moses and watched as he did what the Eternal directed.

⁷ Moses named the place Massah^[e] and Meribah,^[f] because the Israelites complained and tested the Eternal, saying, “Is He standing with us or not?”

22 Jesus went on speaking in parables.

¹⁵ At that, the Pharisees left. They determined to trap this Jesus with His own words—hang Him by His own rope, you might say. ¹⁶ They sent a batch of students to Him, along with a group that was loyal to Herod.

¹⁸ Jesus knew these men were out to trap Him.

Someone handed Him a denarius.^{[a] 20} Jesus fingered the coin.

²² And those who had come hoping to trick Jesus were confounded and amazed. And they left Him and went away.

²³ That same day, a band of Sadducees—a sect of Jewish aristocrats who, among other things, did not expect a resurrection or anticipate any sort of future life at all—put their own question to Jesus.

³³ And again the crowd was amazed. They were astonished at His teaching.

Psalm 27

A song of David.

¹⁷ After Pharaoh sent the people out, God did not take them by the coastal road that runs through the land of the Philistines, even though that was the nearest and easiest route. Instead, God said, “For if they see battle with those contentious Philistines, they might regret their decision and then return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God chose a different, longer path that led the community of His people through the desert toward the Red Sea. The Israelites marched out of the land of Egypt like an army ready for battle.

¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath, “God will certainly come and rescue you. Carry my bones with you when you leave this place.”^[a]

²⁰ The people of Israel departed from Succoth and set up camp in Etham at the edge of the desert. ²¹ The Eternal went on ahead to guide them during the day in a cloud shaped like a pillar; at night He appeared to them in a fire shaped like a pillar to light their way. So they were able to travel by day and by night. ²² The Eternal did not remove the cloud pillar or the fire pillar; by day and by night it continued to go ahead of the people.

And so they did exactly as the Eternal instructed.

⁵ When Egypt’s king received the news that the Israelites had run away, the attitude of Pharaoh and his servants changed. They began talking among themselves.

⁶ Pharaoh prepared his chariot and called out his army. ⁷ He took a select group of the 600 best chariots in the land plus all the other chariots in Egypt with drivers commanding all of them.

⁸ The Eternal hardened the stubborn heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he chased after the Israelites just as they were marching out of the land with victorious hands held high.

⁹ The Egyptians pursued the Israelites. All of Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot-drivers and army caught up with the Israelites as they were camping by the sea not far from Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ Pharaoh approached the Israelites’ camp, and the Israelites saw the Egyptian army closing in on them. The Israelites were trapped and feared for their lives, so they cried out to the Eternal.

¹⁹ God’s messenger, who had been out front leading the people of Israel, moved to protect the rear of the company; the cloud pillar moved with him from the front to the back of them. ²⁰ The cloud pillar took its position between Egypt’s and Israel’s camps. The cloud cast darkness by day yet it lit up the sky by night. As a result, the Egyptians never got close to the Israelites the entire night. ²¹ Moses then took his staff and reached out over the sea. The Eternal parted the sea with a strong east wind, which blew all night and turned the floor of the sea into dry ground between the divided waters. ²² The Israelites broke camp and traveled on dry ground through the parted waters, and the sea stood like a solid wall on their right and on their left.

²³ The Egyptians were undaunted. They continued their pursuit; all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot-drivers followed the Israelites into the middle of the sea.

²⁴ Before daybreak the Eternal peered down upon the Egyptian army through the fire pillar and the cloud pillar and threw them all into confusion. ²⁵ He caused the wheels of their chariots to break down so that it was nearly impossible for the drivers to control them. The Egyptians knew something was wrong.

²⁶ After all the Israelites had reached the other side of the sea, the Eternal spoke to Moses.

²⁷ So Moses raised his hand and reached out over the sea, and the walls of water collapsed. As dawn gave way to morning, the sea returned to normal and the Eternal swept the retreating Egyptian army into the sea. ²⁸ The waters rushed and covered all the chariots and their drivers, swallowing up all of Pharaoh’s army that had pursued Israel into the sea. Not one Egyptian survived.

²⁹ But the Israelites had walked safely through the parted waters on dry ground, and the sea stood like a solid wall on their right and on their left. ³⁰ That day the Eternal rescued Israel from the powerful grip of the Egyptians, and Israel watched the corpses of the Egyptians wash up on the shore. ³¹ When Israel witnessed the incredible power that the Eternal used to defeat the Egyptians, the people were struck with fear of Him, and they trusted in Him and also in Moses, His servant.

15 Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Eternal One.

²³ Jesus returned to the temple and began to teach. The chief priests and elders came to Him and wanted to know who had given Him permission to disturb the temple precincts and to teach His crazy notions in this most sacred of spots.

The elders knew that this question was tricky; there was no simple answer. If they acknowledged that John’s ritual cleansing was from heaven, Jesus would ask why they had not accepted John’s authority. ²⁶ But if they said he had dipped people simply by his own accord, they would outrage the people who believed John was a prophet.

⁴⁵ And so the chief priests and the Pharisees, the teachers and the elders, knew that when Jesus told these stories He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ Not believing, they looked for a way to arrest Him—a stealthy way, though. They were afraid to make too bold a move against Him because all the people believed He was a prophet.

Psalm 26

A song of David.

²¹ Then Moses called all of Israel’s elders together and gave them instructions.

When Moses finished these instructions, the people bowed down and worshiped.

²⁸ The Israelites went and did as they were instructed; they were obedient to what the Eternal had commanded Moses and Aaron.

²⁹ Now this is what happened: at midnight, He struck down all the firstborn sons in Egypt—from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn son of the prisoners locked in the dungeon, and even the firstborn of all the livestock in the land. ³⁰ Pharaoh woke up during the night. He wasn’t the only one. His servants, as well as all of the Egyptians in the land, had awoken. A great scream shattered the night in Egypt, for there was not a single Egyptian house where someone was not dead.

³¹ Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron before the night was over.

³³ The Egyptians frantically urged the people of Israel to hurry and leave their land.

³⁴ So the Israelites hurried. They took their bread dough before any yeast had been added, packed up their kneading bowls, wrapped them in some of their clothing, and carried them on their shoulders.

³⁵ The people of Israel also did what Moses had told them to do; they asked the Egyptians for items made of silver and gold, and they asked for extra clothing as well. ³⁶ The Eternal caused the Egyptians to have a favorable attitude toward His people, so the Egyptians fulfilled these requests and gave the people what they asked for. This is how the Israelites stripped the Egyptians of their valued possessions.

³⁷ The Israelites left and traveled from Rameses to Succoth. There were about 600,000 men, plus all the women and children. ³⁸ Another crowd, made up of various and sundry peoples, accompanied them, as well as herds, flocks, and a great number of livestock. ³⁹ They baked flat bread along the way from the dough without yeast which they carried with them from Egypt. The dough had no yeast because the people had been rushed out of Egypt, and they did not have enough time to gather food supplies for themselves.

^40-41 The Israelites had lived in the land of Egypt for a total of 430 years. On the last day of their 430th year, all the forces belonging to the Eternal left the land of Egypt. ⁴² This was the night when the Eternal kept watch over His people and brought them safely out of the land of Egypt; now this night is to be kept by His people, to be celebrated by all of the people of Israel throughout all generations.

⁵⁰ Then all of the Israelites did exactly as the Eternal had instructed Moses and Aaron to do. ⁵¹ On that same day, He led the Israelites as they marched out of the land of Egypt like an army.

²⁹ So finally Jesus and His disciples left Jericho and headed for Jerusalem; and, of course, a large crowd followed them. ³⁰ Two blind men, sitting on the roadside, heard the crowd approaching with Jesus.

³¹ The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted louder.

³⁴ Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and so they followed Him.

21 Jesus, the disciples, and the great crowds were heading toward Jerusalem when they came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus stopped and beckoned to two of the disciples.

⁴ He sent the disciples on ahead so His entry into Jerusalem could fulfill what the prophet Zechariah had long since foretold:

⁶ So the disciples went off and followed Jesus’ instructions. ⁷ They brought the donkey and foal to Jesus, they spread their cloaks on the animals, and Jesus sat down on them. ⁸ The great crowd followed suit, laying their cloaks on the road. Others cut leafy branches from the trees and scattered those before Jesus. ⁹ And the crowds went before Jesus, walked alongside Him, and processed behind—all singing.

¹⁰ And that is how Jesus came into Jerusalem. The people noticed this strange parade. They wondered who this could be, this humble bearded man on a donkey who incited such songs.

¹² Jesus came to the temple. He drove out all those who were buying and selling. He upended the moneychangers’ tables and the dove-sellers’ benches.

¹⁴ Then the blind and the lame came to the temple, and Jesus healed them. ¹⁵ Rings of children circled round and sang, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” But the priests and scribes didn’t understand. When they saw the upturned tables, the walking paralytics, and the singing children, they were shocked, indignant, and angry, and they did not understand.

¹⁷ At that, Jesus left Jerusalem. He went to Bethany, where He spent the night.

¹⁸ The next morning, Jesus went back to the city. It was early and He was wanting breakfast, so ¹⁹ He stopped at a lone fig tree by the road. The fig tree, disappointingly, had no figs, only leaves.

Immediately the tree shriveled up. ²⁰ The disciples were amazed.

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, ² and ^(A)that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, ^(B)that you may know that I am the Lord.”

³ So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to ^(C)humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. ⁴ For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring ^(D)locusts into your country, ⁵ and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall ^(E)eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, ⁶ and they shall fill ^(F)your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷ Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” ⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, ^(G)“Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?” ⁹ Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for ^(H)we must hold a feast to the Lord.” ¹⁰ But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your ^(I)little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.^{[a] 11} No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(J)“Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and ^(K)eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” ¹³ So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. ^14 (L)The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, ^(M)such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. ¹⁵ They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and ^(N)they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, ^(O)“I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. ¹⁷ Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and ^(P)plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” ¹⁸ So ^(Q)he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. ¹⁹ And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them ^(R)into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord ^(S)hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(T)“Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be ^(U)darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” ²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. ²³ They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but ^(V)all the people of Israel had light where they lived. ²⁴ Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, ^(W)“Go, serve the Lord; ^(X)your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” ²⁵ But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. ²⁶ Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.” ²⁷ But the Lord ^(Y)hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. ²⁸ Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” ²⁹ Moses said, “As you say! ^(Z)I will not see your face again.”

A Final Plague Threatened

11 The Lord said to Moses, “Yet ^(AA)one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. ^(AB)When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. ² Speak now in the hearing of the people, that ^(AC)they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” ^3 (AD)And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people.

⁴ So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ^(AE)‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is ^(AF)behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. ^6 (AG)There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. ⁷ But not a dog shall growl ^(AH)against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord ^(AI)makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ ⁸ And ^(AJ)all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(AK)“Pharaoh will not listen to you, that ^(AL)my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord ^(AM)hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

The Passover

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ^2 (AN)“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. ³ Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb ^(AO)according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. ⁴ And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be ^(AP)without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, ⁶ and you shall keep it until the ^(AQ)fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.^[b]

⁷ “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the ^(AR)two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. ⁸ They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with ^(AS)unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but ^(AT)roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. ¹⁰ And ^(AU)you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. ¹¹ In this manner you shall eat it: with ^(AV)your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. ^(AW)It is the Lord's Passover. ¹² For ^(AX)I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on ^(AY)all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: ^(AZ)I am the Lord. ^13 (BA)The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius^[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶ And ^(A)about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸ And ^(B)when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his ^(C)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹² saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and ^(D)the scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he replied to one of them, ^(E)‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take ^(F)what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ^15 (G)Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or ^(H)do you begrudge my generosity?’^{[b] 16} So ^(I)the last will be first, and the first last.”

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

^17 (J)And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ¹⁸ “See, ^(K)we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will ^(L)condemn him to death ¹⁹ and ^(M)deliver him over to the Gentiles ^(N)to be mocked and flogged and ^(O)crucified, and he will be raised on ^(P)the third day.”

A Mother's Request

^20 (Q)Then ^(R)the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and ^(S)kneeling before him she asked him for something. ²¹ And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine ^(T)are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, ^(U)in your kingdom.” ²² Jesus answered, ^(V)“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(W)to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” ²³ He said to them, ^(X)“You will drink ^(Y)my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, ^(Z)but it is for those for whom it has been ^(AA)prepared by my Father.” ²⁴ And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them to him and said, ^(AB)“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles ^(AC)lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ^26 (AD)It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,^{[c] 27} and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,^{[d] 28} even as the Son of Man came not to be served but ^(AE)to serve, and ^(AF)to give his life as a ransom for ^(AG)many.”

Teach Me Your Paths

^[a] Of David.

The Second Plague: Frogs

8 ^[a] Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that ^(A)they may serve me. ² But if you ^(B)refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with ^(C)frogs. ³ The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into ^(D)your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people,^[b] and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. ⁴ The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” ^5 [c] And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ^(E)‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” ⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and ^(F)the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ But ^(G)the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, ^(H)“Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and ^(I)I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” ⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when ^(J)I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” ¹⁰ And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so ^(K)that you may know that ^(L)there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.” ¹² So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh.^{[d] 13} And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. ¹⁴ And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was a ^(M)respite, he ^(N)hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The Third Plague: Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ^(O)‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷ And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and ^(P)there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ The ^(Q)magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is ^(R)the finger of God.” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(S)“Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^(T)“Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²¹ Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. ²² But on that day ^(U)I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, ^(V)that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.^{[e] 23} Thus I will put a division^[f] between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.”’” ²⁴ And the Lord did so. ^(W)There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.

²⁵ Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” ²⁶ But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an ^(X)abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings ^(Y)abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? ²⁷ We must go ^(Z)three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God ^(AA)as he tells us.” ²⁸ So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. ^(AB)Plead for me.” ²⁹ Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh ^(AC)cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” ³⁰ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ³¹ And the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. ³² But Pharaoh ^(AD)hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.

The Fifth Plague: Egyptian Livestock Die

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(AE)“Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says ^(AF)the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ² For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, ³ behold, ^(AG)the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. ^4 (AH)But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.”’” ⁵ And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” ⁶ And the next day the Lord did this thing. ^(AI)All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. ⁷ And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But ^(AJ)the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹ It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become ^(AK)boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. ¹¹ And ^(AL)the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. ^12 (AM)But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as ^(AN)the Lord had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(AO)“Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ¹⁴ For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself,^[g] and on your servants and your people, so ^(AP)that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. ^16 (AQ)But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so ^(AR)that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. ^17 (AS)You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. ¹⁸ Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. ¹⁹ Now therefore send, ^(AT)get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”’” ²⁰ Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, ²¹ but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be ^(AU)hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” ²³ Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the ^(AV)Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. ²⁴ There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵ The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail ^(AW)struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. ^26 (AX)Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time ^(AY)I have sinned; the ^(AZ)Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. ^28 (BA)Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” ²⁹ Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, ^(BB)I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that ^(BC)the earth is the Lord's. ³⁰ But as for you and your servants, ^(BD)I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” ³¹ (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. ³² But the wheat and the emmer^[h] were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) ³³ So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and ^(BE)stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. ³⁴ But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and ^(BF)hardened his heart, ^(BG)he and his servants. ³⁵ So ^(BH)the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

Let the Children Come to Me

^13 (A)Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples ^(B)rebuked the people, ¹⁴ but Jesus said, ^(C)“Let the little children ^(D)come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” ¹⁵ And he laid his hands on them and went away.

The Rich Young Man

^16 (E)And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to ^(F)have ^(G)eternal life?” ¹⁷ And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. ^(H)If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸ He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, ^(I)“You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother, and, ^(J)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰ The young man said to him, ^(K)“All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” ²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you would be ^(L)perfect, go, ^(M)sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^(N)treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ^22 (O)When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

²³ And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, ^(P)only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ^24 (Q)Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter ^(R)the kingdom of God.” ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁶ But Jesus ^(S)looked at them and said, ^(T)“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ²⁷ Then Peter said in reply, “See, ^(U)we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” ²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,^{[a] (V)}when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me ^(W)will also sit on twelve thrones, ^(X)judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ^29 (Y)And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold^[b] and will ^(Z)inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But ^(AA)many who are ^(AB)first will be last, and the last first.

The King of Glory

A Psalm of David.

Practical Warnings

²² Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

God Promises Deliverance

6 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with ^(A)a strong hand he will ^(B)drive them out of his land.”

² God spoke to Moses and said to him, ^(C)“I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^(D)God Almighty,^[a] but by my name the ^(E)Lord I did not make myself known to them. ^4 (F)I also established my covenant with them ^(G)to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. ⁵ Moreover, ^(H)I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. ⁶ Say therefore to the people of Israel, ^(I)‘I am the Lord, and ^(J)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and ^(K)I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. ⁷ I ^(L)will take you to be my people, and ^(M)I will be your God, and you shall know that ^(N)I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out ^(O)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you into ^(P)the land that I ^(Q)swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. ^(R)I am the Lord.’” ⁹ Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they ^(S)did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

¹⁰ So the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” ¹² But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have ^(T)not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for ^(U)I am of uncircumcised lips?” ¹³ But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the ^(V)sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. ¹⁵ The ^(W)sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon. ¹⁶ These are the names of the ^(X)sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. ¹⁷ The ^(Y)sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. ¹⁸ The ^(Z)sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. ¹⁹ The ^(AA)sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. ^20 (AB)Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. ^21 (AC)The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² The ^(AD)sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of ^(AE)Amminadab and the sister of ^(AF)Nahshon, and she bore him ^(AG)Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²⁴ The ^(AH)sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. ²⁵ Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and ^(AI)she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans.

²⁶ These are the Aaron and Moses ^(AJ)to whom the Lord said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt ^(AK)by their hosts.” ²⁷ It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.

²⁸ On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ the Lord said to Moses, ^(AL)“I am the Lord; ^(AM)tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” ³⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, ^(AN)I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”

Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like ^(AO)God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your ^(AP)prophet. ^2 (AQ)You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. ³ But ^(AR)I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I ^(AS)multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, ⁴ Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. ⁵ The Egyptians ^(AT)shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” ⁶ Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷ Now Moses was ^(AU)eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh says to you, ^(AV)‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the ^(AW)magicians of Egypt, also ^(AX)did the same by their secret arts. ¹² For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Still ^(AY)Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, ^(AZ)as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. ^15 (BA)Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand ^(BB)the staff that turned into a ^(BC)serpent. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ‘The ^(BD)Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, ^(BE)that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, “By this ^(BF)you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and ^(BG)it shall turn into blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will ^(BH)grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^(BI)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he ^(BJ)lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the ^(BK)water in the Nile turned into blood. ²¹ And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians ^(BL)could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. ²² But ^(BM)the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So ^(BN)Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as ^(BO)the Lord had said. ²³ Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. ²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

²⁵ Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often ^(A)will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ^(B)As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished ^(C)to settle accounts with his servants.^{[a] 24} When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ^(D)ten thousand ^(E)talents.^{[b] 25 (F)}And since he could not pay, his master ordered him ^(G)to be sold, with his wife and ^(H)children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the servant^{[c] (I)}fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and ^(J)forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred ^(K)denarii,^[d] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³² Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (L)And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ^34 (M)And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,^{[e] (N)}until he should pay all his debt. ^35 (O)So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother ^(P)from your heart.”

Teaching About Divorce

19 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from ^(Q)Galilee and ^(R)entered ^(S)the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. ² And ^(T)large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³ And Pharisees came up to him and ^(U)tested him by asking, ^(V)“Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” ⁴ He answered, ^(W)“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ^(X)‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^(Y)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two but one flesh. ^(Z)What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ⁷ They said to him, ^(AA)“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” ⁸ He said to them, “Because of your ^(AB)hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ^9 (AC)And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”^[f]

¹⁰ The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹ But he said to them, ^(AD)“Not everyone can receive this saying, but only ^(AE)those to ^(AF)whom it is given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs ^(AG)for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

Moses Given Powerful Signs

4 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” ² The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, ^(A)“A staff.” ³ And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. ⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ⁵ “that they may ^(B)believe that the Lord, ^(C)the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” ⁶ Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.”^[a] And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was ^(D)leprous^[b] like snow. ⁷ Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, ^(E)it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ⁸ “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. ⁹ If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile ^(F)will become blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but ^(G)I am slow of speech and of tongue.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore go, and ^(H)I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” ¹³ But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” ¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, ^(I)he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ^15 (J)You shall speak to him and ^(K)put the words in his mouth, and ^(L)I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. ^16 (M)He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and ^(N)you shall be as God to him. ¹⁷ And take in your hand ^(O)this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Moses went back to ^(P)Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” ¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for ^(Q)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took ^(R)his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(S)the staff of God in his hand.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the ^(T)miracles that I have put in your power. But ^(U)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^(V)Israel is my ^(W)firstborn son, ²³ and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I ^(X)will kill your firstborn son.’”

²⁴ At a lodging place on the way ^(Y)the Lord met him and ^(Z)sought to put him to death. ²⁵ Then ^(AA)Zipporah took a ^(AB)flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses'^[c] feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” ²⁶ So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness ^(AC)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the ^(AD)mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸ And Moses ^(AE)told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all ^(AF)the signs that he had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron ^(AG)went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. ^30 (AH)Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ And the people ^(AI)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had ^(AJ)visited the people of Israel and that he had ^(AK)seen their affliction, ^(AL)they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Making Bricks Without Straw

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold ^(AM)a feast to me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, ^(AN)“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, ^(AO)I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “The ^(AP)God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” ⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your ^(AQ)burdens.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Behold, ^(AR)the people of the land are now many,^[d] and you make them rest from their burdens!” ⁶ The same day Pharaoh commanded the ^(AS)taskmasters of the people and their ^(AT)foremen, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

¹⁰ So the ^(AU)taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” ¹² So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The ^(AV)taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's ^(AW)taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

¹⁵ Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? ¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” ¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” ¹⁹ The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” ²⁰ They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; ²¹ and ^(AX)they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Who Is the Greatest?

18 ^(A)At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you ^(B)turn and ^(C)become like children, you ^(D)will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ^4 (E)Whoever humbles himself like this child is the ^(F)greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

^5 (G)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ⁶ but ^(H)whoever causes one of these ^(I)little ones who believe in me to sin,^[a] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Temptations to Sin

⁷ “Woe to the world for ^(J)temptations to sin!^{[b] (K)}For it is necessary that temptations come, ^(L)but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ^8 (M)And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into ^(N)the eternal fire. ^9 (O)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the ^(P)hell^[c] of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise ^(Q)one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven ^(R)their angels always ^(S)see the face of my Father who is in heaven.^{[d] 12 (T)}What do you think? ^(U)If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴ So ^(V)it is not the will of my^[e] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

^15 (W)“If your brother sins against you, ^(X)go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ^(Y)gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ^(Z)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, ^(AA)tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(AB)let him be to you as ^(AC)a Gentile and ^(AD)a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, ^(AE)whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[f] in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you ^(AF)agree on earth about anything they ask, ^(AG)it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are ^(AH)gathered in my name, ^(AI)there am I among them.”

Moses Given Powerful Signs

4 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” ² The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, ^(A)“A staff.” ³ And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. ⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ⁵ “that they may ^(B)believe that the Lord, ^(C)the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” ⁶ Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.”^[a] And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was ^(D)leprous^[b] like snow. ⁷ Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, ^(E)it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ⁸ “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. ⁹ If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile ^(F)will become blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but ^(G)I am slow of speech and of tongue.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore go, and ^(H)I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” ¹³ But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” ¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, ^(I)he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ^15 (J)You shall speak to him and ^(K)put the words in his mouth, and ^(L)I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. ^16 (M)He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and ^(N)you shall be as God to him. ¹⁷ And take in your hand ^(O)this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Moses went back to ^(P)Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” ¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for ^(Q)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took ^(R)his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(S)the staff of God in his hand.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the ^(T)miracles that I have put in your power. But ^(U)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^(V)Israel is my ^(W)firstborn son, ²³ and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I ^(X)will kill your firstborn son.’”

²⁴ At a lodging place on the way ^(Y)the Lord met him and ^(Z)sought to put him to death. ²⁵ Then ^(AA)Zipporah took a ^(AB)flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses'^[c] feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” ²⁶ So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness ^(AC)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the ^(AD)mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸ And Moses ^(AE)told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all ^(AF)the signs that he had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron ^(AG)went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. ^30 (AH)Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ And the people ^(AI)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had ^(AJ)visited the people of Israel and that he had ^(AK)seen their affliction, ^(AL)they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Making Bricks Without Straw

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold ^(AM)a feast to me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, ^(AN)“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, ^(AO)I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “The ^(AP)God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” ⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your ^(AQ)burdens.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Behold, ^(AR)the people of the land are now many,^[d] and you make them rest from their burdens!” ⁶ The same day Pharaoh commanded the ^(AS)taskmasters of the people and their ^(AT)foremen, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

¹⁰ So the ^(AU)taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” ¹² So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The ^(AV)taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's ^(AW)taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

¹⁵ Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? ¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” ¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” ¹⁹ The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” ²⁰ They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; ²¹ and ^(AX)they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Who Is the Greatest?

18 ^(A)At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you ^(B)turn and ^(C)become like children, you ^(D)will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ^4 (E)Whoever humbles himself like this child is the ^(F)greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

^5 (G)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ⁶ but ^(H)whoever causes one of these ^(I)little ones who believe in me to sin,^[a] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Temptations to Sin

⁷ “Woe to the world for ^(J)temptations to sin!^{[b] (K)}For it is necessary that temptations come, ^(L)but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ^8 (M)And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into ^(N)the eternal fire. ^9 (O)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the ^(P)hell^[c] of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise ^(Q)one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven ^(R)their angels always ^(S)see the face of my Father who is in heaven.^{[d] 12 (T)}What do you think? ^(U)If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴ So ^(V)it is not the will of my^[e] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

^15 (W)“If your brother sins against you, ^(X)go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ^(Y)gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ^(Z)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, ^(AA)tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(AB)let him be to you as ^(AC)a Gentile and ^(AD)a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, ^(AE)whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[f] in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you ^(AF)agree on earth about anything they ask, ^(AG)it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are ^(AH)gathered in my name, ^(AI)there am I among them.”

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹ One day, ^(A)when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their ^(B)burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.^{[a] 12} He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he ^(C)struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ When ^(D)he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” ¹⁴ He answered, ^(E)“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But ^(F)Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by ^(G)a well.

¹⁶ Now the ^(H)priest of Midian had seven daughters, and ^(I)they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ¹⁷ The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and ^(J)watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they came home to their father ^(K)Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” ¹⁹ They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and ^(L)watered the flock.” ²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may ^(M)eat bread.” ²¹ And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter ^(N)Zipporah. ²² She gave birth to a son, and he called his name ^(O)Gershom, for he said, “I have been a ^(P)sojourner^[b] in a foreign land.”

God Hears Israel's Groaning

^23 (Q)During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel ^(R)groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. ^(S)Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴ And ^(T)God heard their groaning, and God ^(U)remembered his covenant with ^(V)Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ God ^(W)saw the people of Israel—and God ^(X)knew.

The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the ^(Y)mountain of God. ^2 (Z)And ^(AA)the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, ^(AB)God called to him ^(AC)out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; ^(AD)take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ And he said, ^(AE)“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for ^(AF)he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, ^(AG)“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their ^(AH)taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸ and ^(AI)I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and ^(AJ)to bring them up out of that land to a ^(AK)good and broad land, a land ^(AL)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(AM)the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ And now, behold, ^(AN)the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the ^(AO)oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ^10 (AP)Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, ^(AQ)“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² He said, ^(AR)“But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^(AS)you shall serve God on this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”^[c] And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ^(AT)‘I am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord,^[d] the ^(AU)God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is ^(AV)my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. ¹⁶ Go and ^(AW)gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, ^(AX)“I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, ¹⁷ and I promise that ^(AY)I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land ^(AZ)flowing with milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸ And ^(BA)they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel ^(BB)shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has ^(BC)met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt ^(BD)will not let you go unless compelled ^(BE)by a mighty hand.^{[e] 20} So ^(BF)I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with ^(BG)all the wonders that I will do in it; ^(BH)after that he will let you go. ²¹ And ^(BI)I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, ²² but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for ^(BJ)silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So ^(BK)you shall plunder the Egyptians.”