¹⁹ When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen^[a] went into the sea,^(A) the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.^{(B) 20} Then Miriam^(C) the prophet,^(D) Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels^(E) and dancing.^{(F) 21} Miriam sang^(G) to them:

The Waters of Marah and Elim

²² Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert^(J) of Shur.^(K) For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.^{(L) 23} When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.^[b](M)) ²⁴ So the people grumbled^(N) against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”^(O)

²⁵ Then Moses cried out^(P) to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw^(Q) it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.

There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test.^{(R) 26} He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep^(S) all his decrees,^(T) I will not bring on you any of the diseases^(U) I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals^(V) you.”

²⁷ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped^(W) there near the water.

Manna and Quail

16 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin,^(X) which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt.^{(Y) 2} In the desert the whole community grumbled^(Z) against Moses and Aaron. ³ The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt!^(AA) There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food^(AB) we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”^(AC)

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven^(AD) for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test^(AE) them and see whether they will follow my instructions. ⁵ On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice^(AF) as much as they gather on the other days.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt,^{(AG) 7} and in the morning you will see the glory^(AH) of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling^(AI) against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?”^{(AJ) 8} Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling^(AK) against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”^(AL)

⁹ Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”

¹⁰ While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory^(AM) of the Lord appearing in the cloud.^(AN)

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the grumbling^(AO) of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”^(AP)

¹³ That evening quail^(AQ) came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew^(AR) around the camp. ¹⁴ When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost^(AS) on the ground appeared on the desert floor. ¹⁵ When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know^(AT) what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread^(AU) the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer^[c](AV) for each person you have in your tent.’”

¹⁷ The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. ¹⁸ And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.^(AW) Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

¹⁹ Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”^(AX)

²⁰ However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell.^(AY) So Moses was angry^(AZ) with them.

²¹ Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. ²² On the sixth day, they gathered twice^(BA) as much—two omers^[d] for each person—and the leaders of the community^(BB) came and reported this to Moses. ²³ He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath^(BC) to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”

²⁴ So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. ²⁵ “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. ²⁶ Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath,^(BD) there will not be any.”

²⁷ Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you^[e] refuse to keep my commands^(BE) and my instructions? ²⁹ Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The people of Israel called the bread manna.^[f](BF) It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

³³ So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna^(BG) in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”

³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law,^(BH) so that it might be preserved. ³⁵ The Israelites ate manna^(BI) forty years,^(BJ) until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.^(BK)

³⁶ (An omer^(BL) is one-tenth of an ephah.)^(BM)

Water From the Rock

17 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin,^(BN) traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim,^(BO) but there was no water^(BP) for the people to drink. ² So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water^(BQ) to drink.”^(BR)

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”^(BS)

³ But the people were thirsty^(BT) for water there, and they grumbled^(BU) against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die^(BV) of thirst?”

⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone^(BW) me.”

⁵ The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff^(BX) with which you struck the Nile,^(BY) and go. ⁶ I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb.^(BZ) Strike^(CA) the rock, and water^(CB) will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the place Massah^[g](CC) and Meribah^[h](CD) because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet^(A)

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like^(B) a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³ He sent his servants^(C) to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

⁴ “Then he sent some more servants^(D) and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶ The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers^(E) and burned their city.

⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners^(F) and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good,^(G) and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend^(H)?’ The man was speechless.

¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^(I)

¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”^(J)

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar^(K)

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. ¹⁶ They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.^(L) “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[a](M) to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, ²⁰ and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s,^(N) and to God what is God’s.”

²² When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.^(O)

Marriage at the Resurrection^(P)

²³ That same day the Sadducees,^(Q) who say there is no resurrection,^(R) came to him with a question. ²⁴ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.^{(S) 25} Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. ²⁷ Finally, the woman died. ²⁸ Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures^(T) or the power of God. ³⁰ At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage;^(U) they will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹ But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^[b]?^(V) He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

³³ When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.^(W)

Psalm 27

Of David.

Warning Against Adultery