The Israelites Oppressed

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel^(A) who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.^{(B) 5} The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy^[a] in all;^(C) Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶ Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,^{(D) 7} but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers^(E) and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

⁸ Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.^{(F) 9} “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous^(G) for us.^{(H) 10} Come, we must deal shrewdly^(I) with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”^(J)

¹¹ So they put slave masters^(K) over them to oppress them with forced labor,^(L) and they built Pithom and Rameses^(M) as store cities^(N) for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites ¹³ and worked them ruthlessly.^{(O) 14} They made their lives bitter with harsh labor^(P) in brick^(Q) and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.^(R)

¹⁵ The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,^(S) whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ¹⁶ “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”^{(T) 17} The midwives, however, feared^(U) God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do;^(V) they let the boys live. ¹⁸ Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”^(W)

²⁰ So God was kind to the midwives^(X) and the people increased and became even more numerous. ²¹ And because the midwives feared^(Y) God, he gave them families^(Z) of their own.

²² Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile,^(AA) but let every girl live.”^(AB)

The Birth of Moses

2 Now a man of the tribe of Levi^(AC) married a Levite woman,^{(AD) 2} and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine^(AE) child, she hid him for three months.^{(AF) 3} But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus^(AG) basket^[b] for him and coated it with tar and pitch.^(AH) Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds^(AI) along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister^(AJ) stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank.^(AK) She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named^(AL) him Moses,^[c] saying, “I drew^(AM) him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹ One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people^(AN) were and watched them at their hard labor.^(AO) He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. ¹² Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”^(AP)

¹⁴ The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?^(AQ) Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill^(AR) Moses, but Moses fled^(AS) from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian,^(AT) where he sat down by a well. ¹⁶ Now a priest of Midian^(AU) had seven daughters, and they came to draw water^(AV) and fill the troughs^(AW) to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue^(AX) and watered their flock.^(AY)

¹⁸ When the girls returned to Reuel^(AZ) their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

¹⁹ They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

²⁰ “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”^(BA)

²¹ Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah^(BB) to Moses in marriage. ²² Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,^[d](BC) saying, “I have become a foreigner^(BD) in a foreign land.”

²³ During that long period,^(BE) the king of Egypt died.^(BF) The Israelites groaned in their slavery^(BG) and cried out, and their cry^(BH) for help because of their slavery went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning and he remembered^(BI) his covenant^(BJ) with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. ²⁵ So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned^(BK) about them.

Moses and the Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro^(BL) his father-in-law, the priest of Midian,^(BM) and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,^(BN) the mountain^(BO) of God. ² There the angel of the Lord^(BP) appeared to him in flames of fire^(BQ) from within a bush.^(BR) Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called^(BS) to him from within the bush,^(BT) “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”^(BU)

⁵ “Do not come any closer,”^(BV) God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”^{(BW) 6} Then he said, “I am the God of your father,^[e] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”^(BX) At this, Moses hid^(BY) his face, because he was afraid to look at God.^(BZ)

⁷ The Lord said, “I have indeed seen^(CA) the misery^(CB) of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned^(CC) about their suffering.^{(CD) 8} So I have come down^(CE) to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land,^(CF) a land flowing with milk and honey^(CG)—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites^(CH) and Jebusites.^{(CI) 9} And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing^(CJ) them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending^(CK) you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”^(CL)

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I^(CM) that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² And God said, “I will be with you.^(CN) And this will be the sign^(CO) to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you^[f] will worship God on this mountain.^(CP)”

¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’^(CQ) Then what shall I tell them?”

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.^[g] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am^(CR) has sent me to you.’”

¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,^[h] the God of your fathers^(CS)—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob^(CT)—has sent me to you.’

¹⁶ “Go, assemble the elders^(CW) of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob^(CX)—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen^(CY) what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt^(CZ) into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’^(DA)

¹⁸ “The elders of Israel will listen^(DB) to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews,^(DC) has met^(DD) with us. Let us take a three-day journey^(DE) into the wilderness to offer sacrifices^(DF) to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand^(DG) compels him. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand^(DH) and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders^(DI) that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.^(DJ)

²¹ “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed^(DK) toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.^{(DL) 22} Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver^(DM) and gold^(DN) and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder^(DO) the Egyptians.”^(DP)

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.^{(A) 2} So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

³ “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— ⁴ I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

⁵ “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

⁶ “‘Nine hundred gallons^[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

⁷ “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“‘A thousand bushels^[b] of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

⁸ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world^(B) are more shrewd^(C) in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.^{(D) 9} I tell you, use worldly wealth^(E) to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.^(F)

¹⁰ “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,^(G) and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹ So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth,^(H) who will trust you with true riches? ¹² And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

¹³ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”^(I)

¹⁴ The Pharisees, who loved money,^(J) heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.^{(K) 15} He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves^(L) in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts.^(M) What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.

Additional Teachings

¹⁶ “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John.^(N) Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached,^(O) and everyone is forcing their way into it. ¹⁷ It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.^(P)

¹⁸ “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.^(Q)

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.^{(R) 20} At his gate was laid a beggar^(S) named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹ and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.^(T) Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²² “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham,^(U) have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’^(V)

²⁵ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things,^(W) but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.^{(X) 26} And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

²⁷ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, ²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them,^(Y) so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses^(Z) and the Prophets;^(AA) let them listen to them.’

³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’^(AB) he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”