² God spoke to Moses and said to him, ^(A)“I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^(B)God Almighty,^[a] but by my name the ^(C)Lord I did not make myself known to them. ^4 (D)I also established my covenant with them ^(E)to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. ⁵ Moreover, ^(F)I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. ⁶ Say therefore to the people of Israel, ^(G)‘I am the Lord, and ^(H)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and ^(I)I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. ⁷ I ^(J)will take you to be my people, and ^(K)I will be your God, and you shall know that ^(L)I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out ^(M)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you into ^(N)the land that I ^(O)swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. ^(P)I am the Lord.’” ⁹ Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they ^(Q)did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

¹⁰ So the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” ¹² But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have ^(R)not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for ^(S)I am of uncircumcised lips?” ¹³ But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

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

Making Bricks Without Straw

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold ^(K)a feast to me in the wilderness.’” ² But Pharaoh said, ^(L)“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, ^(M)I will not let Israel go.” ³ Then they said, “The ^(N)God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” ⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your ^(O)burdens.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Behold, ^(P)the people of the land are now many,^[a] and you make them rest from their burdens!” ⁶ The same day Pharaoh commanded the ^(Q)taskmasters of the people and their ^(R)foremen, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

¹⁰ So the ^(S)taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” ¹² So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The ^(T)taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's ^(U)taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

¹⁵ Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? ¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” ¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” ¹⁹ The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” ²⁰ They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; ²¹ and ^(V)they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

²² Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

God Promises Deliverance

6 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with ^(W)a strong hand he will ^(X)drive them out of his land.”

^22 (A)And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with ^(B)myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him and ^(C)divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. ²⁵ And ^(D)it was the third hour^[a] when they crucified him. ²⁶ And the inscription of the charge against him read, ^(E)“The King of the Jews.” ²⁷ And with him they crucified two ^(F)robbers, ^(G)one on his right and one on his left.^{[b] 29} And ^(H)those who passed by derided him, ^(I)wagging their heads and saying, ^(J)“Aha! ^(K)You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰ save yourself, and come down from the cross!” ³¹ So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, ^(L)“He saved others; ^(M)he cannot save himself. ³² Let ^(N)the Christ, ^(O)the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may ^(P)see and believe.” ^(Q)Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

The Death of Jesus

³³ And when the sixth hour^[c] had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.^{[d] 34} And at the ninth hour Jesus ^(R)cried with a loud voice, ^(S)“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ³⁵ And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” ³⁶ And someone ran and filled a sponge with ^(T)sour wine, put it on a reed ^(U)and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” ³⁷ And Jesus ^(V)uttered a loud cry and ^(W)breathed his last. ³⁸ And ^(X)the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. ^39 (Y)And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he^[e] breathed his last, he said, ^(Z)“Truly this man was the Son^[f] of God!”

The Crucifixion

^26 (A)And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were ^(B)mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, ^(C)the days are coming when they will say, ^(D)‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ^30 (E)Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For ^(F)if they do these things when ^(G)the wood is green, what will happen ^(H)when it is dry?”

^32 (I)Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ^33 (J)And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, ^(K)one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, ^(L)forgive them, ^(M)for they know not what they do.”^[a] And they cast lots ^(N)to divide his garments. ³⁵ And ^(O)the people stood by, watching, ^(P)but ^(Q)the rulers ^(R)scoffed at him, saying, ^(S)“He saved others; ^(T)let him save himself, ^(U)if he is ^(V)the Christ of God, ^(W)his Chosen One!” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and ^(X)offering him sour wine ³⁷ and saying, ^(Y)“If you are ^(Z)the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ^38 (AA)There was also an inscription over him,^[b] “This is ^(AB)the King of the Jews.”

^39 (AC)One of the criminals who were hanged ^(AD)railed at him,^[c] saying, “Are you not ^(AE)the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me ^(AF)when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in ^(AG)paradise.”

The Death of Jesus

^44 (AH)It was now about the sixth hour,^[d] and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,^{[e] 45} while the sun's light failed. And ^(AI)the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus, ^(AJ)calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, ^(AK)into your hands I ^(AL)commit my spirit!” And having said this ^(AM)he breathed his last. ⁴⁷ Now ^(AN)when the centurion saw what had taken place, ^(AO)he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home ^(AP)beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ And all ^(AQ)his acquaintances and ^(AR)the women who had followed him from Galilee ^(AS)stood at a distance watching these things.