Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt

1 ^(A)These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵ All the descendants of Jacob were ^(B)seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶ Then ^(C)Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ^7 (D)But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Pharaoh Oppresses Israel

⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ^(E)who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And he said to his people, “Behold, ^(F)the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. ^10 (G)Come, ^(H)let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” ¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them ^(I)to afflict them with heavy ^(J)burdens. They built for Pharaoh ^(K)store cities, Pithom and ^(L)Raamses. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. ¹³ So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel ^(M)work as slaves ¹⁴ and ^(N)made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

22 ^[a] “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and ^(A)four sheep for a sheep. ^2 [b] If a thief is found ^(B)breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, ³ but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He^[c] shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then ^(C)he shall be sold for his theft. ⁴ If the stolen beast ^(D)is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, ^(E)he shall pay double.

⁵ “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard.

⁶ “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.

⁷ “If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man's house, then, if the thief is found, ^(F)he shall pay double. ⁸ If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. ⁹ For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰ “If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, ^11 (G)an oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution. ¹² But if ^(H)it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. ¹³ If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn.

¹⁴ “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. ¹⁵ If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hiring fee.^[d]

Laws About Social Justice

^16 (I)“If a man seduces a virgin^[e] who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price^[f] for her and make her his wife. ¹⁷ If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, ^(J)he shall pay money equal to the ^(K)bride-price for virgins.

^18 (L)“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

^19 (M)“Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

^20 (N)“Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.^[g]

^21 (O)“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ^22 (P)You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. ²³ If you do mistreat them, and they ^(Q)cry out to me, I will surely ^(R)hear their cry, ²⁴ and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and ^(S)your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

^25 (T)“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. ^26 (U)If ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷ for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he ^(V)cries to me, I will hear, for I am ^(W)compassionate.

^28 (X)“You shall not revile God, nor ^(Y)curse a ruler of your people.

²⁹ “You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. ^(Z)The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. ^30 (AA)You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: ^(AB)seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

^31 (AC)“You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore ^(AD)you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; ^(AE)you shall throw it to the dogs.

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹ One day, ^(A)when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their ^(B)burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.^{[a] 12} He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he ^(C)struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ When ^(D)he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” ¹⁴ He answered, ^(E)“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But ^(F)Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by ^(G)a well.

¹⁶ Now the ^(H)priest of Midian had seven daughters, and ^(I)they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ¹⁷ The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and ^(J)watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they came home to their father ^(K)Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” ¹⁹ They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and ^(L)watered the flock.” ²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may ^(M)eat bread.” ²¹ And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter ^(N)Zipporah. ²² She gave birth to a son, and he called his name ^(O)Gershom, for he said, “I have been a ^(P)sojourner^[b] in a foreign land.”

^21 (A)And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, ^(B)doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled ^(C)in his body of flesh by his death, ^(D)in order to present you holy and blameless and ^(E)above reproach before him, ^23 (F)if indeed you continue in the faith, ^(G)stable and steadfast, not shifting from ^(H)the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed ^(I)in all creation^[a] under heaven, ^(J)and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Paul's Ministry to the Church

²⁴ Now ^(K)I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^(L)I am filling up ^(M)what is lacking in Christ's afflictions ^(N)for the sake of his body, that is, the church, ^25 (O)of which I became a minister according to ^(P)the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, ^26 (Q)the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. ^27 (R)To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are ^(S)the riches of the glory of ^(T)this mystery, which is Christ in you, ^(U)the hope of glory. ²⁸ Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that ^(V)we may present everyone ^(W)mature in Christ. ²⁹ For this ^(X)I toil, ^(Y)struggling ^(Z)with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

2 For I want you to know ^(AA)how great a ^(AB)struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, ² that ^(AC)their hearts may be encouraged, being ^(AD)knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of ^(AE)God's mystery, which is Christ, ^3 (AF)in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I say this in order ^(AG)that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. ⁵ For ^(AH)though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your ^(AI)good order and ^(AJ)the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive in Christ

^6 (AK)Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ^7 (AL)rooted and ^(AM)built up in him and ^(AN)established in the faith, just ^(AO)as you were taught, abounding ^(AP)in thanksgiving.