^27 (A)Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the ^(B)mountain of God and kissed him. ^28 (C)Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and ^(D)all the signs that He had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron went and ^(E)assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; ³⁰ and ^(F)Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the ^(G)signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ So ^(H)the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord ^[a](I)was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, ^(J)they bowed low and worshiped.

Israel’s Labor Increased

5 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “^(K)This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘^(L)Let My people go so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, “^(M)Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, ^(N)I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “^(O)The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will strike us with plague or with the sword.” ⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you let the people neglect their ^[b]work? Get back to your ^(P)labors!” ⁵ Again Pharaoh said, “Look, ^(Q)the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” ⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded ^(R)the taskmasters over the people and their ^(S)foremen, saying, ⁷ “You are no longer to give the people straw to make bricks as previously; have them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But you shall impose on them the quota of bricks which they were making before; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are ^(T)lazy, for that reason they cry ^[c]out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let the labor be heavier on the men, and have them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

¹⁰ So ^(U)the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not going to give you any straw. ¹¹ You go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but none of your labor will be reduced.’” ¹² So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your ^[d]work quota, ^[e]your daily amount, just as when ^[f]you had straw.” ¹⁴ Moreover, ^(V)the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, ^(W)were beaten ^[g]and asked, “Why have you not completed your required task of making bricks either yesterday or today, as before?”

¹⁵ Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.” ¹⁷ But he said, “You are ^(X)lazy, very lazy; for that reason you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, but you must deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble, ^[h]since they were told, “You must not reduce ^[i]your daily amount of bricks.” ²⁰ When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were ^[j]waiting for them. ²¹ And ^(Y)they said to them, “^(Z)May the Lord look upon you and judge you, because you have ^(AA)made ^[k]us repulsive in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”

²² Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “^(AB)Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? ²³ Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, ^(AC)and You have not rescued Your people at all.”

God Promises Action

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for ^[l](AD)under compulsion he will let them go, and ^[m]under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, ^(A)the Lamb of God who ^(B)takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘^(C)After me is coming a Man who has proved to be ^[a]my superior, ^(D)because He existed before me.’ ³¹ And I did not recognize ^[b]Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing ^[c]in water.” ³² And John ^(E)testified, saying, “^(F)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ And I did not recognize ^[d]Him, but He who sent me to baptize ^[e]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, ^(G)this is the One who baptizes ^[f]in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is ^(H)the ^[g]Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry; First Converts

³⁵ Again ^(I)the next day John was standing ^[h]with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, ^(J)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to Him, “^(K)Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹ He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day; it was about the ^[i]tenth hour. ^40 (L)One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the ^(M)Messiah” (which translated means ^[j]Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^[k](N)John; you shall be called ^(O)Cephas” (which is translated ^[l](P)Peter).

^43 (Q)The next day He ^[m]decided to go to ^(R)Galilee, and He *found ^(S)Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “^(T)Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(U)Philip was from ^(V)Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ^45 (W)Philip *found ^(X)Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(Y)Moses wrote in the Law, and ^(Z)the prophets also wrote: Jesus ^(AA)the son of Joseph, from ^(AB)Nazareth!” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “^(AC)Can anything good be from Nazareth?” ^(AD)Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Here is truly an ^(AE)Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before ^(AF)Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “^(AG)Rabbi, You are ^(AH)the Son of God; You are the ^(AI)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see ^(AJ)heaven opened and ^(AK)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(AL)the Son of Man.”

² God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am ^(A)the Lord; ³ and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as ^[a](B)God Almighty, but by ^(C)My name, ^[b]Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. ⁴ I also established ^(D)My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the ^[c]land in which they lived as strangers. ⁵ Furthermore I have ^(E)heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶ Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘^(F)I am the Lord, and ^(G)I will bring you out from under the labors of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their bondage. I will also ^(H)redeem you with ^(I)an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. ⁷ Then I will take you ^[d](J)as My people, and ^(K)I will be ^[e]your God; and ^(L)you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the labors of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land which ^(M)I ^[f]swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and ^(N)I will give it to you as a possession; ^(O)I am the Lord.’” ⁹ So Moses said this to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on ^(P)account of their ^[g]despondency and cruel bondage.

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “^(Q)Go, ^[h]tell Pharaoh king of Egypt ^[i]to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” ¹² But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; ^(R)how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am ^[j](S)unskilled in speech?” ¹³ Nevertheless, the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command concerning the sons of Israel and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ households. ^(T)The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵ And the ^(U)sons of Simeon: ^[k]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶ And these are the names of ^(V)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the ^[l]length of Levi’s life was 137 years. ^17 (W)The sons of Gershon: ^[m]Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ¹⁸ And ^(X)the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and the ^[n]length of Kohath’s life was 133 years. ¹⁹ And ^(Y)the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰ Now ^(Z)Amram ^[o]married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the ^[p]length of Amram’s life was 137 years. ²¹ And ^(AA)the sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² And ^(AB)the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, ^[q]Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ Aaron ^[r]married Elisheba, the daughter of ^(AC)Amminadab, the sister of ^(AD)Nahshon, and she bore him ^(AE)Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

I Will Extend My Hand

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(A)See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. ² As for you, you shall speak all that I command you, and your brother ^(B)Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. ³ But ^(C)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that I may ^(D)multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ When ^(E)Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay My hand on Egypt and ^(F)bring out My armies, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by ^(G)great judgments. ⁵ Then ^(H)the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(I)extend My hand over Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron did this; ^(J)as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷ And Moses was ^(K)eighty years old and Aaron ^[a]eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

¹² So, as those who have been ^(A)chosen of God, holy and beloved, ^(B)put on a ^(C)heart of compassion, kindness, ^(D)humility, gentleness, and ^[a](E)patience; ^13 (F)bearing with one another, and ^(G)forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; ^(H)just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also. ¹⁴ In addition to all these things put on love, which is ^[b](I)the perfect bond of ^(J)unity. ¹⁵ Let ^(K)the peace of Christ, to which you were ^[c]indeed called in ^(L)one body, ^[d]rule in your hearts; and ^[e]be thankful. ¹⁶ Let ^(M)the word of ^[f]Christ richly dwell within you, ^[g]with all wisdom ^(N)teaching and admonishing ^[h]one another ^(O)with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, ^(P)singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ^17 (Q)Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, ^(R)giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Family Relations

^18 (S)Wives, ^(T)be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ^19 (U)Husbands, love your wives and do not become bitter against them. ^20 (V)Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing ^[i]to the Lord. ^21 (W)Fathers, do not ^[j]antagonize your children, so that they will not become discouraged.

^22 [k](X)Slaves, obey those who are your ^[l]human masters in everything, ^(Y)not with ^[m]eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. ²³ Whatever you do, do your work ^[n]heartily, ^(Z)as for the Lord and not for people, ^24 (AA)knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward ^[o]of ^(AB)the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you ^(AC)serve. ²⁵ For ^(AD)the one who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and ^[p](AE)that without partiality.

4 Masters, grant your slaves justice and fairness, ^(AF)knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.