The Fifth Plague: Egyptian Livestock Die

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says ^(B)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, ^(C)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 (D)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. ^(E)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 ^(F)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 ^(G)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 ^(H)the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. ^12 (I)But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as ^(J)the Lord had spoken to Moses.

³ Now ^(A)Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him ^(B)in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put ^(C)the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. ⁴ The Philistines assembled and came and encamped ^(D)at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped ^(E)at Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶ And when Saul inquired of the Lord, ^(F)the Lord did not answer him, either ^(G)by dreams, or ^(H)by Urim, or by prophets. ⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, ^(I)“Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at ^(J)En-dor.”

⁸ So Saul ^(K)disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, ^(L)“Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.” ⁹ The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, ^(M)how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?” ¹⁰ But Saul swore to her by the Lord, ^(N)“As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” ¹¹ Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” ¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” ¹³ The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” ¹⁴ He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped ^(O)in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.

¹⁵ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and ^(P)God has turned away from me and ^(Q)answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” ¹⁶ And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? ¹⁷ The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for ^(R)the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. ^18 (S)Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. ¹⁹ Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you ^(T)and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”

²⁰ Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. ²¹ And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Behold, your servant has obeyed you. ^(U)I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me. ²² Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.” ²³ He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed. ²⁴ Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it, ²⁵ and she put it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.

Famine, Sword, and Pestilence

14 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning ^(A)the drought:

¹¹ The Lord said to me: ^(T)“Do not pray for the welfare of this people. ¹² Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, ^(U)and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them ^(V)by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield

Of David.

Jesus Calls Levi

¹³ He went out again beside the sea, and ^(A)all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. ^14 (B)And as he passed by, he saw ^(C)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁵ And as he reclined at table in his house, many ^(D)tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ And ^(E)the scribes of^[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ^(F)“Why does he eat^[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^(G)I came not to call the righteous, ^(H)but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁸ Now ^(I)John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, ^(J)“Why do John's disciples and ^(K)the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, ^(L)“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ^20 (M)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(N)then they will fast in that day. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²² And no one puts new wine into old ^(O)wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”^[c]

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

^23 (P)One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples ^(Q)began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴ And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, ^(R)why are they doing ^(S)what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And he said to them, ^(T)“Have you never read ^(U)what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶ how he entered the house of God, in the time of^{[d] (V)}Abiathar the high priest, and ate ^(W)the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ And he said to them, ^(X)“The Sabbath was made for man, ^(Y)not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So ^(Z)the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

^12 (A)But these, like irrational animals, ^(B)creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, ¹³ suffering wrong as ^(C)the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure ^(D)to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,^[a] while ^(E)they feast with you. ¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery,^{[b] (F)}insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts ^(G)trained in greed. ^(H)Accursed children! ¹⁵ Forsaking the right way, ^(I)they have gone astray. They have followed ^(J)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(K)gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^(L)a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

^17 (M)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^(N)For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, ^(O)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(P)escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them ^(Q)freedom, ^(R)but they themselves are slaves^[c] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, ^(S)after they have escaped the defilements of the world ^(T)through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^(U)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For ^(V)it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^(W)the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^(X)dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”