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.

Jonathan Warns David

20 Then David fled from Naioth ^(A)in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” ² And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” ³ But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that ^(B)I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, ^(C)as the Lord lives and ^(D)as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” ⁴ Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” ⁵ David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is ^(E)the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, ^(F)that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. ^6 (G)If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run ^(H)to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly ^(I)sacrifice there for all the clan.’ ⁷ If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that ^(J)harm is determined by him. ⁸ Therefore deal kindly with your servant, ^(K)for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. ^(L)But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” ⁹ And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that ^(M)it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” ¹⁰ Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” ¹¹ And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.

¹² And Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness!^[a] When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? ¹³ But should it please my father to do you harm, ^(N)the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. ^(O)May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. ¹⁴ If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die; ^15 (P)and do not cut off^[b] your steadfast love from my house forever, when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” ¹⁶ And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, ^(Q)“May^[c] the Lord take vengeance on David's enemies.” ¹⁷ And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, ^(R)for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to him, ^(S)“Tomorrow is the new moon, and ^(T)you will be missed, because ^(U)your seat will be empty.

¹⁶ “As for you, ^(A)do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. ¹⁷ Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸ The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, ^(B)and the women knead dough, to ^(C)make cakes for ^(D)the queen of heaven. And ^(E)they pour out drink offerings to other gods, ^(F)to provoke me to anger. ^19 (G)Is it I whom they provoke? declares the Lord. Is it not themselves, ^(H)to their own shame? ²⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^(I)my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; ^(J)it will burn and not be quenched.”

²¹ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(K)“Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. ²² For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them ^(L)concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. ²³ But this command I gave them: ^(M)‘Obey my voice, and ^(N)I will be your God, and you shall be my people. ^(O)And walk in all the way that I command you, ^(P)that it may be well with you.’ ^24 (Q)But they did not obey or incline their ear, ^(R)but walked in their own counsels and ^(S)the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and ^(T)went backward and not forward. ²⁵ From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, ^(U)I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. ^26 (V)Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, ^(W)but stiffened their neck. ^(X)They did worse than their fathers.

^27 (Y)“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. ^(Z)You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. ²⁸ And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; ^(AA)truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

The Valley of Slaughter

³⁰ “For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have set ^(AD)their detestable things in the house ^(AE)that is called by my name, to ^(AF)defile it. ³¹ And they have built the high places of ^(AG)Topheth, which is in ^(AH)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^(AI)to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, ^(AJ)which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. ^32 (AK)Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called ^(AL)Topheth, or ^(AM)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; ^(AN)for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. ^33 (AO)And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, ^(AP)and none will frighten them away. ^34 (AQ)And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^(AR)for the land shall become a waste.

The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that ^(A)a riot was beginning, he took water and ^(B)washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of ^(C)this man's blood;^{[a] (D)}see to it yourselves.” ²⁵ And all the people answered, ^(E)“His blood be on us and ^(F)on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released for them Barabbas, and having ^(G)scourged^[b] Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^27 (H)Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the ^(I)governor's headquarters,^[c] and they gathered the whole ^(J)battalion^[d] before him. ²⁸ And they stripped him and put ^(K)a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they ^(L)mocked him, saying, “Hail, ^(M)King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And ^(N)they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and ^(O)led him away to crucify him.

Called to Be Holy

¹³ Therefore, ^(A)preparing your minds for action,^[a] and ^(B)being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, ^(C)do not be conformed to the passions ^(D)of your former ignorance, ¹⁵ but ^(E)as he who called you is holy, you also be holy ^(F)in all your conduct, ¹⁶ since it is written, ^(G)“You shall be holy, for I am holy.” ¹⁷ And if you ^(H)call on him as Father who ^(I)judges ^(J)impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves ^(K)with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸ knowing that you ^(L)were ransomed from ^(M)the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but ^(N)with the precious blood of Christ, like that of ^(O)a lamb ^(P)without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but ^(Q)was made manifest ^(R)in the last times for the sake of you ^21 (S)who through him are believers in God, ^(T)who raised him from the dead and ^(U)gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²² Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for ^(V)a sincere brotherly love, ^(W)love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ^23 (X)since you have been born again, ^(Y)not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through ^(Z)the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴ for

And this word ^(AC)is the good news that was preached to you.