A Final Plague Threatened

11 The Lord said to Moses, “Yet ^(A)one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. ^(B)When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. ² Speak now in the hearing of the people, that ^(C)they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” ^3 (D)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: ^(E)‘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 ^(F)behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. ^6 (G)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 ^(H)against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord ^(I)makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ ⁸ And ^(J)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, ^(K)“Pharaoh will not listen to you, that ^(L)my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

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

David Hears of Saul's Death

1 After the death of Saul, when David had returned ^(A)from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. ² And on the third day, behold, ^(B)a man came from Saul's camp, ^(C)with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, ^(D)he fell to the ground and paid homage. ³ David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴ And David said to him, ^(E)“How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” ⁵ Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶ And the young man who told him said, ^(F)“By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. ⁷ And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹ And he said to me, ^(G)‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ ¹⁰ So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. ^(H)And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹ Then David took hold of his clothes and ^(I)tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. ¹² And they mourned and wept ^(J)and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³ And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴ David said to him, “How is it you were not ^(K)afraid to put out your hand to destroy ^(L)the Lord's anointed?” ¹⁵ Then ^(M)David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. ¹⁶ And David said to him, ^(N)“Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed ^(O)the Lord's anointed.’”

David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ And David ^(P)lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸ and he said it^[a] should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in ^(Q)the Book of Jashar.^[b] He said:

The Lord Will Restore Israel

^14 (A)“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ^(B)‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ ¹⁵ but ^(C)‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel ^(D)out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For ^(E)I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

¹⁶ “Behold, ^(F)I am sending for many fishers, declares the Lord, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out ^(G)of the clefts of the rocks. ¹⁷ For ^(H)my eyes are on all their ways. ^(I)They are not hidden from me, ^(J)nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. ¹⁸ But first ^(K)I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and ^(L)have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”

²¹ “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that ^(R)my name is the Lord.”

Blessed Are the Forgiven

A Maskil^[a] of David.

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

^31 (A)And his mother and his ^(B)brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers^[a] are outside, seeking you.” ³³ And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴ And ^(C)looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

Warning Concerning Antichrists

¹⁸ Children, ^(A)it is the last hour, and as you have heard that ^(B)antichrist is coming, so now ^(C)many antichrists have come. ^(D)Therefore we know that it is the last hour. ^19 (E)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^(F)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, ^(G)that it might become plain that they all are not of us. ²⁰ But you have been ^(H)anointed by ^(I)the Holy One, and ^(J)you all have knowledge.^{[a] 21} I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but ^(K)he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is ^(L)the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (M)No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ Let ^(N)what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then ^(O)you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that he made to us^[b]—^(P)eternal life.

²⁶ I write these things to you about ^(Q)those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷ But ^(R)the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and ^(S)you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and ^(T)is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Children of God

²⁸ And now, little children, abide in him, so that ^(U)when he appears ^(V)we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his ^(W)coming.