Water from the Rock

17 ^(A)All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ^2 (B)Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you ^(C)test the Lord?” ³ But the people thirsted there for water, and ^(D)the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” ⁴ So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready ^(E)to stone me.” ⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with ^(F)which you struck the Nile, and go. ^6 (G)Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the name of the place ^(H)Massah^[a] and ^(I)Meribah,^[b] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Israel Defeats Amalek

^8 (J)Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ So Moses said to ^(K)Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with ^(L)the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ So ^(M)Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and ^(N)Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ Whenever Moses ^(O)held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and ^(P)Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³ And ^(Q)Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of ^(R)Joshua, that ^(S)I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ And Moses ^(T)built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, ¹⁶ saying, “A hand upon the throne^[c] of the Lord! ^(U)The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

6 After this ^(A)Jesus went away to the other side of ^(B)the Sea of Galilee, which is ^(C)the Sea of Tiberias. ² And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. ³ Jesus went up on ^(D)the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. ⁴ Now ^(E)the Passover, the ^(F)feast of the Jews, was at hand. ^5 (G)Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to ^(H)Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” ⁶ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. ^7 (I)Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii^[a] worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” ⁸ One of his disciples, ^(J)Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five ^(K)barley loaves and two fish, but ^(L)what are they for so many?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” ^(M)Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, and ^(N)when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. ¹⁴ When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ^(O)“This is indeed ^(P)the Prophet ^(Q)who is to come into the world!”

^15 (R)Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus ^(S)withdrew again to ^(T)the mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on Water

¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷ got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸ The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹ When they had rowed about three or four miles,^[b] they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. ^20 (U)But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹ Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

Jethro's Advice

18 ^(A)Jethro, ^(B)the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her home, ³ along with her ^(C)two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (^(D)for he said, ^(E)“I have been a sojourner^[a] in a foreign land”), ⁴ and the name of the other, Eliezer^[b] (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). ⁵ Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the ^(F)mountain of God. ⁶ And when he sent word to Moses, “I,^[c] your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” ⁷ Moses ^(G)went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and ^(H)kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. ⁸ Then Moses told his father-in-law ^(I)all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. ⁹ And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰ Jethro said, ^(J)“Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that ^(K)the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they ^(L)dealt arrogantly with the people.”^{[d] 12} And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law ^(M)before God.

¹³ The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” ¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because ^(N)the people come to me to inquire of God; ^16 (O)when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I ^(P)make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” ¹⁷ Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. ^(Q)You are not able to do it alone. ¹⁹ Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall ^(R)represent the people before God and ^(S)bring their cases to God, ²⁰ and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know ^(T)the way in which they must walk and ^(U)what they must do. ²¹ Moreover, look for ^(V)able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²² And ^(W)let them judge the people at all times. ^(X)Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will ^(Y)bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this, God will direct you, you will be ^(Z)able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ^25 (AA)Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²⁶ And ^(AB)they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and ^(AC)he went away to his own country.

^31 (A)Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ^32 (B)Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, ^(C)forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Walk in Love

5 ^(D)Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And ^(E)walk in love, ^(F)as Christ loved us and ^(G)gave himself up for us, a ^(H)fragrant ^(I)offering and sacrifice to God.

³ But ^(J)sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness ^(K)must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴ Let there be ^(L)no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, ^(M)which are out of place, but instead ^(N)let there be thanksgiving. ⁵ For you may be sure of this, that ^(O)everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (^(P)that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ^6 (Q)Let no one ^(R)deceive you with empty words, for because of these things ^(S)the wrath of God comes upon ^(T)the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore ^(U)do not become partners with them; ⁸ for ^(V)at one time you were ^(W)darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. ^(X)Walk as children of light ⁹ (for ^(Y)the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰ and ^(Z)try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ^11 (AA)Take no part in the ^(AB)unfruitful ^(AC)works of darkness, but instead ^(AD)expose them. ¹² For ^(AE)it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³ But when ^(AF)anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

^15 (AJ)Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ^16 (AK)making the best use of the time, because ^(AL)the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what ^(AM)the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And ^(AN)do not get drunk with wine, for that is ^(AO)debauchery, but ^(AP)be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in ^(AQ)psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ^20 (AR)giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father ^(AS)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^21 (AT)submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.