Genesis 46 - Exodus 16

New King James Version

Jacob’s Journey to Egypt^(A)

46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to ^(B)Beersheba, and offered sacrifices ^(C)to the God of his father Isaac. ² Then God spoke to Israel ^(D)in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

³ So He said, “I am God, ^(E)the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will ^(F)make of you a great nation there. ^4 (G)I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely ^(H)bring you up again; and ^(I)Joseph ^[a]will put his hand on your eyes.”

⁵ Then ^(J)Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the ^[b]carts ^(K)which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, ^(L)Jacob and all his descendants with him. ⁷ His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

⁸ Now ^(M)these were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: ^(N)Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn. ⁹ The ^(O)sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ^10 (P)The sons of Simeon were ^[c]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, ^[d]Jachin, ^[e]Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹¹ The sons of ^(Q)Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹² The sons of ^(R)Judah were ^(S)Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). ^(T)The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³ The sons of Issachar were Tola, ^[f]Puvah, ^[g]Job, and Shimron. ¹⁴ The ^(U)sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These were the ^(V)sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.

¹⁶ The sons of Gad were ^[h]Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, ^[i]Ezbon, Eri, ^[j]Arodi, and Areli. ^17 (W)The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel. ^18 (X)These were the sons of Zilpah, ^(Y)whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons.

¹⁹ The ^(Z)sons of Rachel, ^(AA)Jacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin. ^20 (AB)And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. ^21 (AC)The sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, ^(AD)Ehi, Rosh, ^(AE)Muppim, ^[k]Huppim, and Ard. ²² These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons in all.

²³ The son of Dan was ^[l]Hushim. ^24 (AF)The sons of Naphtali were ^[m]Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and ^[n]Shillem. ^25 (AG)These were the sons of Bilhah, ^(AH)whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all.

^26 (AI)All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, ^(AJ)besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. ²⁷ And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. ^(AK)All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.

Jacob Settles in Goshen

²⁸ Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, ^(AL)to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came ^(AM)to the land of Goshen. ²⁹ So Joseph made ready his ^(AN)chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and ^(AO)fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.

³⁰ And Israel said to Joseph, ^(AP)“Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”

³¹ Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, ^(AQ)“I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³² And the men are ^(AR)shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’ ³³ So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ^(AS)‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ ^(AT)occupation has been with livestock ^(AU)from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is ^(AV)an^[o] abomination to the Egyptians.”

Joseph Is Governor of Egypt

47 Then Joseph ^(AW)went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in ^(AX)the land of Goshen.” ² And he took five men from among his brothers and ^(AY)presented them to Pharaoh. ³ Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, ^(AZ)“What is your occupation?”

And they said to Pharaoh, ^(BA)“Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” ⁴ And they said to Pharaoh, ^(BB)“We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, ^(BC)for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants ^(BD)dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ^6 (BE)The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell ^(BF)in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob ^(BG)blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

⁹ And Jacob said to Pharaoh, ^(BH)“The days of the years of my ^[p]pilgrimage are ^(BI)one hundred and thirty years; ^(BJ)few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and ^(BK)they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” ¹⁰ So Jacob ^(BL)blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

¹¹ And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of ^(BM)Rameses, ^(BN)as Pharaoh had commanded. ¹² Then Joseph provided ^(BO)his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families.

Joseph Deals with the Famine

¹³ Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, ^(BP)so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. ^14 (BQ)And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

¹⁵ So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, for ^(BR)why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.”

¹⁶ Then Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.” ¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he ^[q]fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.

¹⁸ When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹ Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may ^(BS)live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.”

²⁰ Then Joseph ^(BT)bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ And as for the people, he ^[r]moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. ^22 (BU)Only the land of the ^(BV)priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.

²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. ²⁴ And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”

²⁵ So they said, “You have saved ^(BW)our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.” ²⁶ And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, ^(BX)except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

Joseph’s Vow to Jacob

²⁷ So Israel ^(BY)dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and ^(BZ)grew and multiplied exceedingly. ²⁸ And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. ²⁹ When the time ^(CA)drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favor in your sight, please ^(CB)put your hand under my thigh, and ^(CC)deal kindly and truly with me. ^(CD)Please do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but ^(CE)let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and ^(CF)bury me in their burial place.”

And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹ Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So ^(CG)Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons^(CH)

48 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, ^(CI)Manasseh and Ephraim. ² And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel ^[s]strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. ³ Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God ^(CJ)Almighty appeared to me at ^(CK)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴ and said to me, ‘Behold, I will ^(CL)make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and ^(CM)give this land to your descendants after you ^(CN)as an everlasting possession.’ ⁵ And now your ^(CO)two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. ⁶ Your ^[t]offspring ^[u]whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ But as for me, when I came from Padan, ^(CP)Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸ Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”

⁹ Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.”

And he said, “Please bring them to me, and ^(CQ)I will bless them.” ¹⁰ Now ^(CR)the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he ^(CS)kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, ^(CT)“I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!”

¹² So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth. ¹³ And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. ¹⁴ Then Israel stretched out his right hand and ^(CU)laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, ^(CV)guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the ^(CW)firstborn. ¹⁵ And ^(CX)he blessed Joseph, and said:

¹⁷ Now when Joseph saw that his father ^(DC)laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹ But his father refused and said, ^(DD)“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly ^(DE)his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

²⁰ So he blessed them that day, saying, ^(DF)“By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but ^(DG)God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²² Moreover ^(DH)I have given to you one ^[v]portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand ^(DI)of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

49 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may ^(DJ)tell you what shall befall you ^(DK)in the last days:

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.

Jacob’s Death and Burial

²⁹ Then he charged them and said to them: “I ^(EX)am to be gathered to my people; ^(EY)bury me with my fathers ^(EZ)in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, ^(FA)which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. ^31 (FB)There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, ^(FC)there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.” ³³ And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

Burial of Jacob

50 Then Joseph ^(FD)fell on his father’s face and ^(FE)wept over him, and kissed him. ² And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to ^(FF)embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians ^(FG)mourned^[ad] for him seventy days.

⁴ Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to ^(FH)the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, ^5 (FI)‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave ^(FJ)which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’ ”

⁶ And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. ⁹ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.

¹⁰ Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they ^(FK)mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. ^(FL)He observed seven days of mourning for his father. ¹¹ And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called ^[ae]Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

¹² So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. ¹³ For ^(FM)his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham ^(FN)bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. ¹⁴ And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, ^(FO)they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may ^[af]actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” ¹⁶ So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, ¹⁷ ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; ^(FP)for they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of ^(FQ)the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸ Then his brothers also went and ^(FR)fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

¹⁹ Joseph said to them, ^(FS)“Do not be afraid, ^(FT)for am I in the place of God? ^20 (FU)But as for you, you meant evil against me; but ^(FV)God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. ²¹ Now therefore, do not be afraid; ^(FW)I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke ^[ag]kindly to them.

Death of Joseph^(FX)

²² So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. ²³ Joseph saw Ephraim’s children ^(FY)to the third generation. ^(FZ)The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, ^(GA)were also brought up on Joseph’s knees.

²⁴ And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but ^(GB)God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land ^(GC)of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Then ^(GD)Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely ^[ah]visit you, and ^(GE)you shall carry up my ^(GF)bones from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Israel’s Suffering in Egypt

1 Now ^(GG)these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵ All those ^[ai]who were descendants of Jacob were ^(GH)seventy^[aj] persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). ⁶ And ^(GI)Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. ^7 (GJ)But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and ^[ak]grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ^(GK)who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and ^(GL)mightier than we; ^10 (GM)come, let us ^(GN)deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” ¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them ^(GO)to afflict them with their ^(GP)burdens. And they built for Pharaoh ^(GQ)supply cities, Pithom ^(GR)and Raamses. ¹² But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. ¹³ So the Egyptians made the children of Israel ^(GS)serve with ^[al]rigor. ¹⁴ And they ^(GT)made their lives bitter with hard bondage—^(GU)in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt spoke to the ^(GV)Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; ¹⁶ and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a ^(GW)son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives ^(GX)feared God, and did not do ^(GY)as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”

¹⁹ And ^(GZ)the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they ^[am]are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”

^20 (HA)Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and ^[an]grew very mighty. ²¹ And so it was, because the midwives feared God, ^(HB)that He ^[ao]provided households for them.

²² So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, ^(HC)“Every son who is ^[ap]born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

Moses Is Born^(HD)

2 And ^(HE)a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. ² So the woman conceived and bore a son. And ^(HF)when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. ³ But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of ^(HG)bulrushes for him, daubed it with ^(HH)asphalt and ^(HI)pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds ^(HJ)by the river’s bank. ^4 (HK)And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.

⁵ Then the ^(HL)daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. ⁶ And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?”

⁸ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became ^(HM)her son. So she called his name ^[aq]Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian^(HN)

¹¹ Now it came to pass in those days, ^(HO)when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. ¹² So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he ^(HP)killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ And ^(HQ)when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men ^(HR)were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”

¹⁴ Then he said, ^(HS)“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

So Moses ^(HT)feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But ^(HU)Moses fled from ^[ar]the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of ^(HV)Midian; and he sat down by ^(HW)a well.

^16 (HX)Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. ^(HY)And they came and drew water, and they filled the ^(HZ)troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Then the ^(IA)shepherds came and ^(IB)drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and ^(IC)watered their flock.

¹⁸ When they came to ^(ID)Reuel^[as] their father, ^(IE)he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?”

¹⁹ And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.”

²⁰ So he said to his daughters, “And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may ^(IF)eat bread.”

²¹ Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave ^(IG)Zipporah his daughter to Moses. ²² And she bore him a son. He called his name ^(IH)Gershom,^[at] for he said, “I have been ^(II)a ^[au]stranger in a foreign land.”

²³ Now it happened ^(IJ)in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel ^(IK)groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and ^(IL)their cry came up to God because of the bondage. ²⁴ So God ^(IM)heard their groaning, and God ^(IN)remembered His ^(IO)covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ And God ^(IP)looked upon the children of Israel, and God ^(IQ)acknowledged them.

Moses at the Burning Bush^(IR)

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of ^(IS)Jethro his father-in-law, ^(IT)the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to ^(IU)Horeb, ^(IV)the mountain of God. ² And ^(IW)the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. ³ Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this ^(IX)great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

⁴ So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called ^(IY)to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

⁵ Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. ^(IZ)Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” ⁶ Moreover He said, ^(JA)“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 ^(JB)he was afraid to look upon God.

⁷ And the Lord said: ^(JC)“I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry ^(JD)because of their taskmasters, ^(JE)for I know their ^[av]sorrows. ⁸ So ^(JF)I have come down to ^(JG)deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land ^(JH)to a good and large land, to a land ^(JI)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(JJ)the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. ⁹ Now therefore, behold, ^(JK)the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the ^(JL)oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ^10 (JM)Come now, therefore, and 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, ^(JN)“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

¹² So He said, ^(JO)“I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a ^(JP)sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

¹⁴ And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ^(JQ)‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” ¹⁵ Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is ^(JR)My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ ¹⁶ Go and ^(JS)gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, ^(JT)“I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; ¹⁷ and I have said ^(JU)I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ ¹⁸ Then ^(JV)they will heed your voice; and ^(JW)you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has ^(JX)met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I am sure that the king of Egypt ^(JY)will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. ²⁰ So I will ^(JZ)stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with ^(KA)all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and ^(KB)after that he will let you go. ²¹ And ^(KC)I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. ^22 (KD)But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, ^(KE)articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So ^(KF)you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Miraculous Signs for Pharaoh

4 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

² So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

He said, “A rod.”

³ And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), ⁵ “that they may ^(KG)believe that the ^(KH)Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

⁶ Furthermore the Lord said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, ^(KI)like snow. ⁷ And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, ^(KJ)it was restored like his other flesh. ⁸ “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the ^(KK)first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. ⁹ And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from ^[aw]the river and pour it on the dry land. ^(KL)The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”

¹⁰ Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but ^(KM)I am slow of speech and ^[ax]slow of tongue.”

¹¹ So the Lord said to him, ^(KN)“Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore, go, and I will be ^(KO)with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

¹³ But he said, “O my Lord, ^(KP)please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

¹⁴ So ^(KQ)the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your ^(KR)brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, ^(KS)he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ Now ^(KT)you shall speak to him and ^(KU)put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and ^(KV)I will teach you what you shall do. ¹⁶ So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and ^(KW)you shall be to him as God. ¹⁷ And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”

Moses Goes to Egypt

¹⁸ So Moses went and returned to ^(KX)Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”

And Jethro said to Moses, ^(KY)“Go in peace.”

¹⁹ Now the Lord said to Moses in ^(KZ)Midian, “Go, return to ^(LA)Egypt; for all the men who ^(LB)sought your life are dead.” ²⁰ Then Moses ^(LC)took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(LD)the rod of God in his hand.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those ^(LE)wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But ^(LF)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall ^(LG)say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(LH)“Israel is My son, ^(LI)My firstborn. ²³ So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed ^(LJ)I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”

²⁴ And it came to pass on the way, at the ^(LK)encampment, that the Lord ^(LL)met him and sought to ^(LM)kill him. ²⁵ Then ^(LN)Zipporah took ^(LO)a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and ^[ay]cast it at ^[az]Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” ²⁶ So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a ^[ba]husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.

²⁷ And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness ^(LP)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on ^(LQ)the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ So Moses ^(LR)told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the ^(LS)signs which He had commanded him. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron ^(LT)went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. ^30 (LU)And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ So the people ^(LV)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had ^(LW)visited the children of Israel and that He ^(LX)had looked on their affliction, then ^(LY)they bowed their heads and worshiped.

First Encounter with Pharaoh

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may ^[bb]hold ^(LZ)a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

² And Pharaoh said, ^(MA)“Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, ^(MB)nor will I let Israel go.”

³ So they said, ^(MC)“The God of the Hebrews has ^(MD)met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with ^(ME)pestilence or with the sword.”

⁴ Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your ^(MF)labor.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are ^(MG)many now, and you make them rest from their labor!”

⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded the ^(MH)taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make ^(MI)brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”

¹⁰ And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ” ¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. ¹³ And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ Also the ^(MJ)officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were ^(MK)beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.”

²⁰ Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. ^21 (ML)And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made ^[bc]us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Israel’s Deliverance Assured^(MM)

²² So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

God Renews His Promise to Israel

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For ^(MN)with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand ^(MO)he will drive them out of his land.”

² And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am ^[bd]the Lord. ^3 (MP)I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^(MQ)God Almighty, but by My name ^(MR)Lord^[be] I was not known to them. ^4 (MS)I have also ^[bf]established My covenant with them, ^(MT)to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their ^[bg]pilgrimage, ^(MU)in which they were ^[bh]strangers. ⁵ And ^(MV)I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶ Therefore say to the children of Israel: ^(MW)‘I am the Lord; ^(MX)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will ^(MY)rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with ^[bi]an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷ I will ^(MZ)take you as My people, and ^(NA)I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out ^(NB)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ And I will bring you into the land which I ^(NC)swore^[bj] to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ” ⁹ So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; ^(ND)but they did not heed Moses, because of ^(NE)anguish^[bk] of spirit and cruel bondage.

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

¹² And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for ^(NF)I am ^[bl]of uncircumcised lips?”

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a ^(NG)command^[bm] for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Family of Moses and Aaron^(NH)

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: ^(NI)The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. ^15 (NJ)And the sons of Simeon were ^[bn]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶ These are the names of ^(NK)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven. ^17 (NL)The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. ¹⁸ And ^(NM)the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. ^19 (NN)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰ Now ^(NO)Amram took for himself ^(NP)Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him ^(NQ)Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven. ^21 (NR)The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² And ^(NS)the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. ²³ Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of ^(NT)Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him ^(NU)Nadab, Abihu, ^(NV)Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²⁴ And ^(NW)the sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and ^(NX)she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶ These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^(NY)armies.”^{[bo] 27} These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, ^(NZ)to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.

Aaron Is Moses’ Spokesman

²⁸ And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. ^(OA)Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, ^(OB)I am ^[bp]of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”

Moses Before Pharaoh

7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you ^(OC)as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be ^(OD)your prophet. ² You ^(OE)shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. ³ And ^(OF)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and ^(OG)multiply My ^(OH)signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But ^(OI)Pharaoh will not heed you, so ^(OJ)that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My ^[bq]armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt ^(OK)by great judgments. ⁵ And the Egyptians ^(OL)shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(OM)stretch out My hand on Egypt and ^(ON)bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

⁶ Then Moses and Aaron ^(OO)did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷ And Moses was ^(OP)eighty years old and ^(OQ)Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod^(OR)

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ^(OS)‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ^(OT)‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just ^(OU)as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it ^(OV)became a serpent.

¹¹ But Pharaoh also ^(OW)called the wise men and ^(OX)the ^[br]sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also ^(OY)did in like manner with their ^[bs]enchantments. ¹² For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. ¹³ And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Waters Become Blood

¹⁴ So the Lord said to Moses: ^(OZ)“Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the ^(PA)water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and ^(PB)the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ^(PC)‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, ^(PD)that they may ^[bt]serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord: “By this ^(PE)you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and ^(PF)they shall be turned ^(PG)to blood. ¹⁸ And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will ^(PH)loathe^[bu] to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”

¹⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and ^(PI)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ” ²⁰ And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he ^(PJ)lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the ^(PK)waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians ^(PL)could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

^22 (PM)Then the magicians of Egypt did ^(PN)so with their ^[bv]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, ^(PO)as the Lord had said. ²³ And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. ²⁵ And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.

The Second Plague: Frogs

8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, ^(PP)that they may serve Me. ² But if you ^(PQ)refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with ^(PR)frogs. ³ So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your ^(PS)bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. ⁴ And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ”

⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ^(PT)‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” ⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and ^(PU)the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ^7 (PV)And the magicians did so with their ^[bw]enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, ^(PW)“Entreat^[bx] the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people ^(PX)go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

⁹ And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.”

¹⁰ So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that ^(PY)there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

¹² Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses ^(PZ)cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. ¹³ So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. ¹⁴ They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was ^(QA)relief, ^(QB)he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

The Third Plague: Lice

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become ^[by]lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” ¹⁷ And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and ^(QC)it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸ Now ^(QD)the magicians so worked with their ^[bz]enchantments to bring forth lice, but they ^(QE)could not. So there were lice on man and beast. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is ^(QF)the^[ca] finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s ^(QG)heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(QH)“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(QI)“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, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. ²² And in that day ^(QJ)I will set apart the land of ^(QK)Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may ^(QL)know that I am the Lord in the midst of the ^(QM)land. ²³ I will ^[cb]make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this ^(QN)sign shall be.” ’ ” ²⁴ And the Lord did so. ^(QO)Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

²⁵ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”

²⁶ And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing ^(QP)the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not ^[cc]stone us? ²⁷ We will go ^(QQ)three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as ^(QR)He will command us.”

²⁸ So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. ^(QS)Intercede for me.”

²⁹ Then Moses said, “Indeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat the Lord, that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. But let Pharaoh not ^(QT)deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

³⁰ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and ^(QU)entreated the Lord. ³¹ And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. ³² But Pharaoh ^(QV)hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.

The Fifth Plague: Livestock Diseased

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(QW)“Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may ^(QX)serve Me. ² For if you ^(QY)refuse to let them go, and still hold them, ³ behold, the ^(QZ)hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence. ⁴ And ^(RA)the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ” ⁵ Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”

⁶ So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and ^(RB)all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. ⁷ Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the ^(RC)heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils^(RD)

⁸ So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹ And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause ^(RE)boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused ^(RF)boils that break out in sores on man and beast. ¹¹ And the ^(RG)magicians could not stand before Moses because of the ^(RH)boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. ¹² But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he ^(RI)did not heed them, just ^(RJ)as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(RK)“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may ^(RL)serve Me, ¹⁴ for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, ^(RM)that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵ Now if I had ^(RN)stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with ^(RO)pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. ¹⁶ But indeed for ^(RP)this purpose I have raised you up, that I may ^(RQ)show My power in you, and that My ^(RR)name may be declared in all the earth. ¹⁷ As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go. ¹⁸ Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now. ¹⁹ Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.” ’ ”

²⁰ He who ^(RS)feared the word of the Lord among the ^(RT)servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. ²¹ But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be ^(RU)hail in all the land of Egypt—on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” ²³ And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and ^(RV)the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴ So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵ And the ^(RW)hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. ^26 (RX)Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷ And Pharaoh sent and ^(RY)called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ^(RZ)“I have sinned this time. ^(SA)The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. ^28 (SB)Entreat^[cd] the Lord, that there may be no more ^[ce]mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you ^(SC)go, and you shall stay no longer.”

²⁹ So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will ^(SD)spread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the ^(SE)earth is the Lord’s. ³⁰ But as for you and your servants, ^(SF)I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.”

³¹ Now the flax and the barley were struck, ^(SG)for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. ³² But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are ^[cf]late crops.

³³ So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and ^(SH)spread out his hands to the Lord; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. ³⁴ And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. ³⁵ So ^(SI)the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses.

The Eighth Plague: Locusts^(SJ)

10 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; ^(SK)for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, ^(SL)that I may show these signs of Mine before him, ² and that ^(SM)you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may ^(SN)know that I am the Lord.”

³ So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to ^(SO)humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may ^(SP)serve Me. ⁴ Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring ^(SQ)locusts into your territory. ⁵ And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and ^(SR)they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. ⁶ They shall ^(SS)fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’ ” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷ Then Pharaoh’s ^(ST)servants said to him, “How long shall this man be ^(SU)a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”

⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. Who are the ones that are going?”

⁹ And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for ^(SV)we must hold a feast to the Lord.”

¹⁰ Then he said to them, “The Lord had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. ¹¹ Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven ^(SW)out from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(SX)“Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and ^(SY)eat every herb of the land—all that the hail has left.” ¹³ So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ¹⁴ And ^(SZ)the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; ^(TA)previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. ¹⁵ For they ^(TB)covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ^(TC)ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ Then Pharaoh called ^(TD)for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, ^(TE)“I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and ^(TF)entreat^[cg] the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only.” ¹⁸ So he ^(TG)went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. ¹⁹ And the Lord turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them ^(TH)into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord ^(TI)hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(TJ)“Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, ^[ch]darkness which may even be felt.” ²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was ^(TK)thick darkness in all the land of Egypt ^(TL)three days. ²³ They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. ^(TM)But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

²⁴ Then Pharaoh called to Moses and ^(TN)said, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your ^(TO)little ones also go with you.”

²⁵ But Moses said, “You must also give ^[ci]us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. ²⁶ Our ^(TP)livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.”

²⁷ But the Lord ^(TQ)hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. ²⁸ Then Pharaoh said to him, ^(TR)“Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!”

²⁹ So Moses said, “You have spoken well. ^(TS)I will never see your face again.”

Death of the Firstborn Announced^(TT)

11 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. ^(TU)Afterward he will let you go from here. ^(TV)When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. ² Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, ^(TW)articles of silver and articles of gold.” ^3 (TX)And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man ^(TY)Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

⁴ Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ^(TZ)‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; ⁵ and ^(UA)all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. ^6 (UB)Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, ^(UC)such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. ^7 (UD)But against none of the children of Israel ^(UE)shall a dog ^[cj]move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’ ⁸ And ^(UF)all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” ^(UG)Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

⁹ But the Lord said to Moses, ^(UH)“Pharaoh will not heed you, so that ^(UI)My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; ^(UJ)and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

The Passover Instituted^(UK)

12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ^2 (UL)“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. ³ Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the ^(UM)tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. ⁴ And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be ^(UN)without^[ck] blemish, a male ^[cl]of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ Now you shall keep it until the ^(UO)fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. ⁷ And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. ⁸ Then they shall eat the flesh on that ^(UP)night; ^(UQ)roasted in fire, with ^(UR)unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹ Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but ^(US)roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. ^10 (UT)You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. ¹¹ And thus you shall eat it: ^[cm]with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. ^(UU)It is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² ‘For I ^(UV)will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and ^(UW)against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: ^(UX)I am the Lord. ¹³ Now 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 the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ ‘So this day shall be to you ^(UY)a memorial; and you shall keep it as a ^(UZ)feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast ^(VA)by an everlasting ordinance. ^15 (VB)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, ^(VC)that ^[cn]person shall be ^[co]cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day there shall be ^(VD)a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. ¹⁷ So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for ^(VE)on this same day I will have brought your ^[cp]armies ^(VF)out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. ^18 (VG)In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹ For ^(VH)seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”

²¹ Then ^(VI)Moses called for all the ^(VJ)elders of Israel and said to them, ^(VK)“Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. ^22 (VL)And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and ^(VM)strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. ^23 (VN)For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the ^(VO)blood on the ^[cq]lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and ^(VP)not allow ^(VQ)the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. ²⁴ And you shall ^(VR)observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. ²⁵ It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, ^(VS)just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. ^26 (VT)And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷ that you shall say, ^(VU)‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people ^(VV)bowed their heads and worshiped. ²⁸ Then the children of Israel went away and ^(VW)did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn^(VX)

^29 (VY)And it came to pass at midnight that ^(VZ)the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was ^[cr]in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of ^(WA)livestock. ³⁰ So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

The Exodus

³¹ Then he ^(WB)called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, ^(WC)both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have ^(WD)said. ^32 (WE)Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.”

^33 (WF)And the Egyptians ^(WG)urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. ³⁵ Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians ^(WH)articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. ^36 (WI)And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus ^(WJ)they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ Then ^(WK)the children of Israel journeyed from ^(WL)Rameses to Succoth, about ^(WM)six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. ³⁸ A ^(WN)mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of ^(WO)livestock. ³⁹ And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because ^(WP)they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.

⁴⁰ Now the ^[cs]sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in ^[ct]Egypt was ^(WQ)four hundred and thirty years. ⁴¹ And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that ^(WR)all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It is ^(WS)a ^[cu]night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

Passover Regulations^(WT)

⁴³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is ^(WU)the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. ⁴⁴ But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have ^(WV)circumcised him, then he may eat it. ^45 (WW)A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. ⁴⁶ In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, ^(WX)nor shall you break one of its bones. ^47 (WY)All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸ And ^(WZ)when a stranger ^[cv]dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. ^49 (XA)One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.”

⁵⁰ Thus all the children of Israel did; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. ^51 (XB)And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ^(XC)according to their armies.

The Firstborn Consecrated

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2 (XD)“Consecrate^[cw] to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.”

The Feast of Unleavened Bread^(XE)

³ And Moses said to the people: ^(XF)“Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of ^[cx]bondage; for ^(XG)by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. ^(XH)No leavened bread shall be eaten. ^4 (XI)On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. ⁵ And it shall be, when the Lord ^(XJ)brings you into the ^(XK)land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He ^(XL)swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, ^(XM)that you shall keep this service in this month. ^6 (XN)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. ⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And ^(XO)no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. ⁸ And you shall ^(XP)tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ ⁹ It shall be as ^(XQ)a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. ^10 (XR)You shall therefore keep this ^[cy]ordinance in its season from year to year.

The Law of the Firstborn

¹¹ “And it shall be, when the Lord ^(XS)brings you into the land of the ^(XT)Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, ^12 (XU)that you shall ^[cz]set apart to the Lord all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the Lord’s. ¹³ But ^(XV)every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons ^(XW)you shall redeem. ^14 (XX)So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ^(XY)‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ¹⁵ And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that ^(XZ)the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶ It shall be as ^(YA)a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

The Wilderness Way^(YB)

¹⁷ Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people ^(YC)change their minds when they see war, and ^(YD)return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God ^(YE)led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁹ And Moses took the ^(YF)bones of ^(YG)Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, ^(YH)“God will surely ^[da]visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

²⁰ So ^(YI)they took their journey from ^(YJ)Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ And ^(YK)the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. ²² He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

The Red Sea Crossing

14 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Speak to the children of Israel, ^(YL)that they turn and camp before ^(YM)Pi Hahiroth, between ^(YN)Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. ³ For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ^(YO)‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ ⁴ Then ^(YP)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I ^(YQ)will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, ^(YR)that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

⁵ Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and ^(YS)the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ So he ^[db]made ready his chariot and took his people with him. ⁷ Also, he took ^(YT)six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. ⁸ And the Lord ^(YU)hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and ^(YV)the children of Israel went out with boldness. ⁹ So the ^(YW)Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel ^(YX)cried out to the Lord. ^11 (YY)Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? ^12 (YZ)Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

¹³ And Moses said to the people, ^(ZA)“Do not be afraid. ^(ZB)Stand still, and see the ^(ZC)salvation^[dc] of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall ^(ZD)see again no more forever. ^14 (ZE)The Lord will fight for you, and you shall ^(ZF)hold^[dd] your peace.”

¹⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. ¹⁶ But ^(ZG)lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. ¹⁷ And I indeed will ^(ZH)harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will ^(ZI)gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

¹⁹ And the Angel of God, ^(ZJ)who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. ²⁰ So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and ^(ZK)made the sea into dry land, and the waters were ^(ZL)divided. ²² So ^(ZM)the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were ^(ZN)a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ²³ And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

²⁴ Now it came to pass, in the morning ^(ZO)watch, that ^(ZP)the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He ^[de]troubled the army of the Egyptians. ²⁵ And He ^[df]took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord ^(ZQ)fights for them against the Egyptians.”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” ²⁷ And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea ^(ZR)returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord ^(ZS)overthrew^[dg] the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. ²⁸ Then ^(ZT)the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. ²⁹ But ^(ZU)the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

³⁰ So the Lord ^(ZV)saved^[dh] Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel ^(ZW)saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Thus Israel saw the great ^[di]work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and ^(ZX)believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

The Song of Moses^(ZY)

15 Then ^(ZZ)Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying:

¹⁹ For the ^(ABN)horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and ^(ABO)the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

The Song of Miriam^(ABP)

²⁰ Then Miriam ^(ABQ)the prophetess, ^(ABR)the sister of Aaron, ^(ABS)took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her ^(ABT)with timbrels and with dances. ²¹ And Miriam ^(ABU)answered them:

Bitter Waters Made Sweet

²² So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of ^(ABW)Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no ^(ABX)water. ²³ Now when they came to ^(ABY)Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called ^[dm]Marah. ²⁴ And the people ^(ABZ)complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵ So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. ^(ACA)When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.

There He ^(ACB)made a statute and an ^[dn]ordinance for them, and there ^(ACC)He tested them, ²⁶ and said, ^(ACD)“If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the ^(ACE)diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord ^(ACF)who heals you.”

^27 (ACG)Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.

Bread from Heaven

16 And they ^(ACH)journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and ^(ACI)Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. ² Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel ^(ACJ)complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ And the children of Israel said to them, ^(ACK)“Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(ACL)when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain ^(ACM)bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather ^[do]a certain quota every day, that I may ^(ACN)test them, whether they will ^(ACO)walk in My law or not. ⁵ And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and ^(ACP)it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

⁶ Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, ^(ACQ)“At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ And in the morning you shall see ^(ACR)the glory of the Lord; for He ^(ACS)hears your complaints against the Lord. But ^(ACT)what are we, that you complain against us?” ⁸ Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but ^(ACU)against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ^(ACV)‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” ¹⁰ Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord ^(ACW)appeared in the cloud.

¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^12 (ACX)“I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ^(ACY)‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and ^(ACZ)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

¹³ So it was that ^(ADA)quail came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(ADB)the dew lay all around the camp. ¹⁴ And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was ^(ADC)a small round ^(ADD)substance, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵ So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, ^(ADE)“This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it ^(ADF)according to each one’s need, one ^(ADG)omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”

¹⁷ Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. ¹⁸ So when they measured it by omers, ^(ADH)he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. ¹⁹ And Moses said, “Let no one ^(ADI)leave any of it till morning.” ²⁰ Notwithstanding they did not ^[dp]heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. ²¹ So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

²² And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. ²³ Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is ^(ADJ)a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ” ²⁴ So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not ^(ADK)stink, nor were there any worms in it. ²⁵ Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. ^26 (ADL)Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

²⁷ Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. ²⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, “How long ^(ADM)do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? ²⁹ See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ And the house of Israel called its name ^[dq]Manna. And ^(ADN)it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

³² Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” ³³ And Moses said to Aaron, ^(ADO)“Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.” ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up ^(ADP)before the Testimony, to be kept. ³⁵ And the children of Israel ^(ADQ)ate manna ^(ADR)forty years, ^(ADS)until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.