Israel’s Suffering in Egypt

1 Now ^(A)these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵ All those ^[a]who were descendants of Jacob were ^(B)seventy^[b] persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). ⁶ And ^(C)Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. ^7 (D)But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and ^[c]grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ^(E)who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and ^(F)mightier than we; ^10 (G)come, let us ^(H)deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” ¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them ^(I)to afflict them with their ^(J)burdens. And they built for Pharaoh ^(K)supply cities, Pithom ^(L)and Raamses. ¹² But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. ¹³ So the Egyptians made the children of Israel ^(M)serve with ^[d]rigor. ¹⁴ And they ^(N)made their lives bitter with hard bondage—^(O)in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

Responsibility for Property

22 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall ^(A)restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. ² If the thief is found ^(B)breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be ^(C)no guilt for his bloodshed. ³ If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be ^(D)sold^[a] for his theft. ⁴ If the theft is certainly ^(E)found alive in his hand, whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep, he shall ^(F)restore double.

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

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

⁷ “If a man ^(G)delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, ^(H)if the thief is found, he shall pay double. ⁸ If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the ^(I)judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor’s goods.

⁹ “For any kind of trespass, whether it concerns an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or clothing, or for any kind of lost thing which another claims to be his, the ^(J)cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whomever the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor. ¹⁰ If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, ¹¹ then an ^(K)oath of the Lord shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall not make it good. ¹² But ^(L)if, in fact, it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it. ¹³ If it is ^(M)torn to pieces by a beast, then he shall bring it as evidence, and he shall not make good what was torn.

¹⁴ “And if a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it becomes injured or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make it good. ¹⁵ If its owner was with it, he shall not make it good; if it was hired, it came for its hire.

Moral and Ceremonial Principles

^16 (N)“If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. ¹⁷ If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the ^(O)bride-price of virgins.

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

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

^20 (R)“He who sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

^21 (S)“You shall neither mistreat a ^[b]stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

^22 (T)“You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. ²³ If you afflict them in any way, and they ^(U)cry at all to Me, I will surely ^(V)hear their cry; ²⁴ and My ^(W)wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; ^(X)your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

^25 (Y)“If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him ^(Z)interest. ^26 (AA)If you ever take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down. ²⁷ For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in? And it will be that when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am ^(AB)gracious.

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

²⁹ “You shall not delay to offer ^(AE)the first of your ripe produce and your juices. ^(AF)The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. ^30 (AG)Likewise you shall do with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother ^(AH)seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

³¹ “And you shall be ^(AI)holy men to Me: ^(AJ)you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

Moses Flees to Midian^(A)

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

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

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

^16 (K)Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. ^(L)And they came and drew water, and they filled the ^(M)troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Then the ^(N)shepherds came and ^(O)drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and ^(P)watered their flock.

¹⁸ When they came to ^(Q)Reuel^[b] their father, ^(R)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 ^(S)eat bread.”

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

²¹ And you, ^(A)who once were alienated and enemies in your mind ^(B)by wicked works, yet now He has ^(C)reconciled ^22 (D)in the body of His flesh through death, ^(E)to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— ²³ if indeed you continue ^(F)in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are ^(G)not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, ^(H)which was preached to every creature under heaven, ^(I)of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Sacrificial Service for Christ

^24 (J)I now rejoice in my sufferings ^(K)for you, and fill up in my flesh ^(L)what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for ^(M)the sake of His body, which is the church, ²⁵ of which I became a minister according to ^(N)the ^[a]stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, ^26 (O)the ^[b]mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, ^(P)but now has been revealed to His saints. ^27 (Q)To them God willed to make known what are ^(R)the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: ^[c]which is ^(S)Christ in you, ^(T)the hope of glory. ²⁸ Him we preach, ^(U)warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, ^(V)that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me ^(W)mightily.

Not Philosophy but Christ

2 For I want you to know what a great ^(X)conflict^[d] I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, ^[e]both of the Father and of Christ, ^3 (Y)in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴ Now this I say ^(Z)lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. ⁵ For ^(AA)though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing ^[f]to see ^(AB)your good order and the ^(AC)steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

^6 (AD)As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ^7 (AE)rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding ^[g]in it with thanksgiving.