The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of ^(A)Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the ^[a]west side of the wilderness and came to ^(B)Horeb, the ^(C)mountain of God. ^2 (D)The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of ^[b]a ^(E)bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. ³ So Moses said, “^[c](F)I must turn aside now and see this ^[d]marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, ^(G)God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then He said, “Do not come near here; ^(H)remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ He said also, “^(I)I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” ^(J)Then Moses hid his face, for he was ^(K)afraid to look at God.

⁷ The Lord said, “I have surely ^(L)seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. ⁸ So I have come down ^(M)to deliver them from the ^[e]power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a ^(N)good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(O)the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. ⁹ Now, behold, ^(P)the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

The Mission of Moses

¹⁰ Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, ^(Q)so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, “^(R)Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² And He said, “Certainly ^(S)I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: ^(T)when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^(U)you shall ^[f]worship God at this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “^[g](V)I AM WHO ^[h]I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘^[i]I AM has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘^(W)The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My ^(X)memorial-name ^[j]to all generations. ¹⁶ Go and ^(Y)gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘^(Z)The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “^[k](AA)I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ So ^(AB)I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of ^(AC)the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land ^(AD)flowing with milk and honey.”’ ^18 (AE)They will ^[l]pay heed to what you say; and ^(AF)you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a ^(AG)three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt ^(AH)will not permit you to go, ^(AI)except ^[m]under compulsion. ²⁰ So I will stretch out ^(AJ)My hand and strike Egypt with all My ^(AK)miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and ^(AL)after that he will let you go. ²¹ I will grant this people ^(AM)favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. ²² But every woman ^(AN)shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will ^(AO)plunder the Egyptians.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

6 ^(A)Now it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples ^(B)were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain. ² But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what ^(C)is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ³ And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read ^(D)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, ⁴ how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the ^[a]consecrated bread which ^(E)is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?” ⁵ And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

^6 (F)On another Sabbath He entered ^(G)the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there ^[b]whose right hand was withered. ⁷ The scribes and the Pharisees ^(H)were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. ⁸ But He ^(I)knew ^[c]what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and ^[d]come forward!” And he got up and ^[e]came forward. ⁹ And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ After ^(J)looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they themselves were filled with ^[f]rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

Choosing the Twelve

¹² It was ^[g]at this time that He went off to ^(K)the mountain to ^(L)pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, ^(M)He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as ^(N)apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and ^[h]James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ and ^(O)Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

¹⁷ Jesus ^(P)came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was ^(Q)a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of ^(R)Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. ¹⁹ And all the ^[i]people were trying to ^(S)touch Him, for ^(T)power was coming from Him and healing them all.

The Beatitudes

²⁰ And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “^(U)Blessed are ^[j]you who are poor, for ^(V)yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are ^[k]you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. ^22 (W)Blessed are you when men hate you, and ^(X)ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. ²³ Be glad in that day and ^(Y)leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For ^(Z)in the same way their fathers used to ^[l]treat the prophets. ²⁴ But woe to ^(AA)you who are rich, for ^(AB)you are receiving your comfort in full. ²⁵ Woe to you who ^[m]are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to ^[n]treat the ^(AC)false prophets in the same way.

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, ^(AD)love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, ^(AE)pray for those who ^[o]mistreat you. ^29 (AF)Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your ^[p]coat, do not withhold your ^[q]shirt from him either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. ^31 [r](AG)Treat others the same way you want ^[s]them to treat you. ^32 (AH)If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ^34 (AI)If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. ³⁵ But ^(AJ)love your enemies, and do good, and lend, ^[t]expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be ^(AK)sons of ^(AL)the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. ^36 [u]Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷ “^(AM)Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; ^[v](AN)pardon, and you will be pardoned. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. They will ^[w]pour ^(AO)into your lap a ^(AP)good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

³⁹ And He also spoke a parable to them: “^(AQ)A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? ^40 (AR)A ^[x]pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will ^[y]be like his teacher. ⁴¹ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. ^43 (AS)For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, ^[z]on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. ^44 (AT)For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. ^45 (AU)The good man out of the good ^[aa]treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; ^(AV)for his mouth speaks from ^[ab]that which fills his heart.

Builders and Foundations

⁴⁶ “^(AW)Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ^47 (AX)Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and ^[ac]acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who ^[ad]dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the ^[ae]torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the ^[af]torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”