Moses Is Born^(A)

2 And ^(B)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 ^(C)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 ^(D)bulrushes for him, daubed it with ^(E)asphalt and ^(F)pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds ^(G)by the river’s bank. ^4 (H)And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.

⁵ Then the ^(I)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 ^(J)her son. So she called his name ^[a]Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian^(K)

¹¹ Now it came to pass in those days, ^(L)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 ^(M)killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ And ^(N)when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men ^(O)were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”

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

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

^16 (U)Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. ^(V)And they came and drew water, and they filled the ^(W)troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Then the ^(X)shepherds came and ^(Y)drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and ^(Z)watered their flock.

¹⁸ When they came to ^(AA)Reuel^[c] their father, ^(AB)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 ^(AC)eat bread.”

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

²³ Now it happened ^(AG)in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel ^(AH)groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and ^(AI)their cry came up to God because of the bondage. ²⁴ So God ^(AJ)heard their groaning, and God ^(AK)remembered His ^(AL)covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ And God ^(AM)looked upon the children of Israel, and God ^(AN)acknowledged them.

Moses at the Burning Bush^(AO)

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of ^(AP)Jethro his father-in-law, ^(AQ)the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to ^(AR)Horeb, ^(AS)the mountain of God. ² And ^(AT)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 ^(AU)great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

⁴ So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called ^(AV)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. ^(AW)Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” ⁶ Moreover He said, ^(AX)“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 ^(AY)he was afraid to look upon God.

⁷ And the Lord said: ^(AZ)“I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry ^(BA)because of their taskmasters, ^(BB)for I know their ^[f]sorrows. ⁸ So ^(BC)I have come down to ^(BD)deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land ^(BE)to a good and large land, to a land ^(BF)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(BG)the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. ⁹ Now therefore, behold, ^(BH)the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the ^(BI)oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ^10 (BJ)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, ^(BK)“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, ^(BL)“I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a ^(BM)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, ^(BN)‘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 ^(BO)My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ ¹⁶ Go and ^(BP)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, ^(BQ)“I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; ¹⁷ and I have said ^(BR)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 ^(BS)they will heed your voice; and ^(BT)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 ^(BU)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 ^(BV)will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. ²⁰ So I will ^(BW)stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with ^(BX)all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and ^(BY)after that he will let you go. ²¹ And ^(BZ)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 (CA)But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, ^(CB)articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So ^(CC)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 ^(CD)believe that the ^(CE)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, ^(CF)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, ^(CG)it was restored like his other flesh. ⁸ “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the ^(CH)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 ^[g]the river and pour it on the dry land. ^(CI)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 ^(CJ)I am slow of speech and ^[h]slow of tongue.”

¹¹ So the Lord said to him, ^(CK)“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 ^(CL)with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

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

¹⁴ So ^(CN)the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your ^(CO)brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, ^(CP)he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ Now ^(CQ)you shall speak to him and ^(CR)put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and ^(CS)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 ^(CT)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 ^(CU)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, ^(CV)“Go in peace.”

¹⁹ Now the Lord said to Moses in ^(CW)Midian, “Go, return to ^(CX)Egypt; for all the men who ^(CY)sought your life are dead.” ²⁰ Then Moses ^(CZ)took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(DA)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 ^(DB)wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But ^(DC)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall ^(DD)say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(DE)“Israel is My son, ^(DF)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 ^(DG)I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”

²⁴ And it came to pass on the way, at the ^(DH)encampment, that the Lord ^(DI)met him and sought to ^(DJ)kill him. ²⁵ Then ^(DK)Zipporah took ^(DL)a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and ^[i]cast it at ^[j]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 ^[k]husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.

²⁷ And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness ^(DM)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on ^(DN)the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ So Moses ^(DO)told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the ^(DP)signs which He had commanded him. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron ^(DQ)went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. ^30 (DR)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 ^(DS)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had ^(DT)visited the children of Israel and that He ^(DU)had looked on their affliction, then ^(DV)they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Jesus Warns of Offenses^(A)

17 Then He said to the disciples, ^(B)“It is impossible that no ^[a]offenses should come, but ^(C)woe to him through whom they do come! ² It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should ^[b]offend one of these little ones. ³ Take heed to yourselves. ^(D)If your brother sins ^[c]against you, ^(E)rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns ^[d]to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

Faith and Duty^(F)

⁵ And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

^6 (G)So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. ⁷ And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? ⁸ But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself ^(H)and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? ⁹ Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded ^[e]him? I think not. ¹⁰ So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are ^(I)unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ”

Ten Lepers Cleansed

¹¹ Now it happened ^(J)as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. ¹² Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, ^(K)who stood afar off. ¹³ And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

¹⁴ So when He saw them, He said to them, ^(L)“Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice ^(M)glorified God, ¹⁶ and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a ^(N)Samaritan.

¹⁷ So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? ¹⁸ Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ^19 (O)And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

The Coming of the Kingdom^(P)

²⁰ Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; ^21 (Q)nor will they say, ^[f]‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, ^(R)the kingdom of God is ^[g]within you.”

²² Then He said to the disciples, ^(S)“The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ^23 (T)And they will say to you, ^[h]‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. ^24 (U)For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. ^25 (V)But first He must suffer many things and be ^(W)rejected by this generation. ^26 (X)And as it ^(Y)was in the ^(Z)days of ^(AA)Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the ^(AB)day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and ^(AC)destroyed them all. ^28 (AD)Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; ²⁹ but on ^(AE)the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man ^(AF)is revealed.

³¹ “In that day, he ^(AG)who is on the housetop, and his ^[i]goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. ^32 (AH)Remember Lot’s wife. ^33 (AI)Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. ^34 (AJ)I tell you, in that night there will be two ^[j]men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. ^35 (AK)Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. ^36 [k]Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”

³⁷ And they answered and said to Him, ^(AL)“Where, Lord?”

So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”

A Prayer for Help in Despondency

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath Leannoth.” A ^[a]Contemplation of ^(A)Heman the Ezrahite.