²⁷ And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness ^(A)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on ^(B)the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ So Moses ^(C)told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the ^(D)signs which He had commanded him. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron ^(E)went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. ^30 (F)And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ So the people ^(G)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had ^(H)visited the children of Israel and that He ^(I)had looked on their affliction, then ^(J)they bowed their heads and worshiped.

First Encounter with Pharaoh

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may ^[a]hold ^(K)a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

² And Pharaoh said, ^(L)“Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, ^(M)nor will I let Israel go.”

³ So they said, ^(N)“The God of the Hebrews has ^(O)met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with ^(P)pestilence or with the sword.”

⁴ Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your ^(Q)labor.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are ^(R)many now, and you make them rest from their labor!”

⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded the ^(S)taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make ^(T)brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”

¹⁰ And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ” ¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. ¹³ And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ Also the ^(U)officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were ^(V)beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.”

²⁰ Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. ^21 (W)And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made ^[b]us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Israel’s Deliverance Assured^(X)

²² So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

God Renews His Promise to Israel

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For ^(Y)with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand ^(Z)he will drive them out of his land.”

The Lamb of God^(A)

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! ^(B)The Lamb of God ^(C)who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ^[a]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ³¹ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, ^(D)therefore I came baptizing with water.”

^32 (E)And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, ^(F)this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and testified that this is the ^(G)Son of God.”

The First Disciples

³⁵ Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. ³⁶ And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, ^(H)“Behold the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they ^(I)followed Jesus. ³⁸ Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”

They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”

³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was ^(J)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the ^[b]Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.

Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of ^[c]Jonah. ^(K)You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, ^[d]A Stone).

Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found ^(L)Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(M)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found ^(N)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(O)Moses in the law, and also the ^(P)prophets, wrote—Jesus ^(Q)of Nazareth, the ^(R)son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶ And Nathanael said to him, ^(S)“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, ^(T)an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”

⁴⁸ Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, ^(U)You are the Son of God! You are ^(V)the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(W)hereafter^[e] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

² And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am ^[a]the Lord. ^3 (A)I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^(B)God Almighty, but by My name ^(C)Lord^[b] I was not known to them. ^4 (D)I have also ^[c]established My covenant with them, ^(E)to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their ^[d]pilgrimage, ^(F)in which they were ^[e]strangers. ⁵ And ^(G)I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶ Therefore say to the children of Israel: ^(H)‘I am the Lord; ^(I)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will ^(J)rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with ^[f]an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷ I will ^(K)take you as My people, and ^(L)I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out ^(M)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ And I will bring you into the land which I ^(N)swore^[g] to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ” ⁹ So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; ^(O)but they did not heed Moses, because of ^(P)anguish^[h] of spirit and cruel bondage.

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

¹² And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for ^(Q)I am ^[i]of uncircumcised lips?”

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a ^(R)command^[j] for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Family of Moses and Aaron^(S)

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: ^(T)The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. ^15 (U)And the sons of Simeon were ^[k]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶ These are the names of ^(V)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven. ^17 (W)The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. ¹⁸ And ^(X)the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. ^19 (Y)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰ Now ^(Z)Amram took for himself ^(AA)Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him ^(AB)Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven. ^21 (AC)The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² And ^(AD)the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. ²³ Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of ^(AE)Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him ^(AF)Nadab, Abihu, ^(AG)Eleazar, and Ithamar.

Moses Before Pharaoh

7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you ^(A)as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be ^(B)your prophet. ² You ^(C)shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. ³ And ^(D)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and ^(E)multiply My ^(F)signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But ^(G)Pharaoh will not heed you, so ^(H)that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My ^[a]armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt ^(I)by great judgments. ⁵ And the Egyptians ^(J)shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(K)stretch out My hand on Egypt and ^(L)bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

⁶ Then Moses and Aaron ^(M)did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷ And Moses was ^(N)eighty years old and ^(O)Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Character of the New Man

¹² Therefore, ^(A)as the elect of God, holy and beloved, ^(B)put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ^13 (C)bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. ^14 (D)But above all these things ^(E)put on love, which is the ^(F)bond of perfection. ¹⁵ And let ^(G)the peace of God rule in your hearts, ^(H)to which also you were called ^(I)in one body; and ^(J)be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another ^(K)in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ¹⁷ And ^(L)whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

The Christian Home^(M)

^18 (N)Wives, submit to your own husbands, ^(O)as is fitting in the Lord.

^19 (P)Husbands, love your wives and do not be ^(Q)bitter toward them.

^20 (R)Children, obey your parents ^(S)in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

^21 (T)Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

^22 (U)Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. ^23 (V)And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ^24 (W)knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; ^(X)for^[a] you serve the Lord Christ. ²⁵ But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and ^(Y)there is no partiality.

Christian Graces; Final Greetings

4 Masters,^(Z) give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.