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 (A)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 ^(B)the staff that turned into a ^(C)serpent. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ‘The ^(D)Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, ^(E)that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, “By this ^(F)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 ^(G)it shall turn into blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will ^(H)grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^(I)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 ^(J)lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the ^(K)water in the Nile turned into blood. ²¹ And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians ^(L)could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. ²² But ^(M)the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So ^(N)Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as ^(O)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.

²⁰ And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, ^(A)so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has ^(B)returned me evil for good. ^22 (C)God do so to the enemies of David^[a] and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she hurried ^(D)and got down from the donkey ^(E)and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. ²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, ^(F)“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. ²⁵ Let not my lord regard ^(G)this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal^[b] is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. ²⁶ Now then, my lord, ^(H)as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because ^(I)the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from ^(J)saving with your own hand, now then ^(K)let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. ²⁷ And now let this ^(L)present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord ^(M)a sure house, because my lord ^(N)is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. ²⁹ If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies ^(O)he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. ³⁰ And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince^[c] over Israel, ³¹ my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord ^(P)working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

³² And David said to Abigail, ^(Q)“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! ³³ Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, ^(R)who have kept me this day from bloodguilt ^(S)and from working salvation with my own hand! ³⁴ For as surely ^(T)as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, ^(U)who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” ³⁵ Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, ^(V)“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”

³⁶ And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, ^(W)he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart ^(X)was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing ^(Y)at all until the morning light. ³⁷ In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. ³⁸ And about ten days later ^(Z)the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, ^(AA)“Blessed be the Lord who has ^(AB)avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, ^(AC)and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. ^(AD)The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and ^(AE)spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. ⁴⁰ When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” ⁴¹ And she rose ^(AF)and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” ⁴² And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³ David also took Ahinoam of ^(AG)Jezreel, ^(AH)and both of them became his wives. ⁴⁴ Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

¹⁴ Thus says the Lord concerning all ^(R)my evil neighbors ^(S)who touch the heritage that ^(T)I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. ¹⁵ And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, ^(U)and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. ¹⁶ And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, ^(V)to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, ^(W)then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. ^17 (X)But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

^21 (A)And they went into Capernaum, and immediately ^(B)on the Sabbath ^(C)he entered the synagogue and was teaching. ²² And ^(D)they were astonished at his teaching, ^(E)for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, ^24 (F)“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^(G)I know who you are—^(H)the Holy One of God.” ²⁵ But Jesus ^(I)rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And the unclean spirit, ^(J)convulsing him and ^(K)crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷ And they were all ^(L)amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? ^(M)A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Jesus Heals Many

^29 (N)And immediately he^{[a] (O)}left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰ Now ^(P)Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. ³¹ And he came and ^(Q)took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³² That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or ^(R)oppressed by demons. ³³ And the whole city was gathered together at the door. ^34 (S)And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And ^(T)he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Greeting

1 Simeon^[a] Peter, a servant^[b] and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained ^(A)a faith of equal standing with ours ^(B)by the righteousness of our ^(C)God and Savior Jesus Christ:

^2 (D)May grace and peace be multiplied to you ^(E)in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Confirm Your Calling and Election

³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him ^(F)who called us to^[c] his own glory and excellence,^{[d] 4} by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become ^(G)partakers of the divine nature, ^(H)having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith ^(I)with virtue,^[e] and virtue ^(J)with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control ^(K)with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness ^(L)with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection ^(M)with love. ⁸ For if these qualities^[f] are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or ^(N)unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he ^(O)is blind, having forgotten that he was ^(P)cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers,^[g] be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and ^(Q)election, for if you practice these qualities ^(R)you will never fall. ¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you ^(S)an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹² Therefore I intend ^(T)always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in ^(U)the truth that you have. ¹³ I think it right, as long as I am in this ^(V)body,^{[h] (W)}to stir you up by way of reminder, ^14 (X)since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, ^(Y)as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. ¹⁵ And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.