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.

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.”

^22 (A)And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. ^23 (B)Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. ²⁴ And when they crucified Him, ^(C)they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.

²⁵ Now ^(D)it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. ²⁶ And ^(E)the inscription of His ^[a]accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

^27 (F)With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. ^28 [b]So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ^(G)“And He was numbered with the transgressors.”

²⁹ And ^(H)those who passed by blasphemed Him, ^(I)wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! ^(J)You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰ save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”

³¹ Likewise the chief priests also, ^(K)mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved ^(L)others; Himself He cannot save. ³² Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and ^[c]believe.”

Even ^(M)those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

Jesus Dies on the Cross^(N)

³³ Now ^(O)when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴ And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, ^(P)“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

³⁵ Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” ³⁶ Then ^(Q)someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and ^(R)offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”

^37 (S)And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.

³⁸ Then ^(T)the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ So ^(U)when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that ^[d]He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

The King on a Cross^(A)

^26 (B)Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.

²⁷ And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. ²⁸ But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ^29 (C)For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then they will begin ^(D)‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ ^31 (E)For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”

^32 (F)There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. ³³ And ^(G)when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. ^34 [a]Then Jesus said, “Father, ^(H)forgive them, for ^(I)they do not know what they do.”

And ^(J)they divided His garments and cast lots. ³⁵ And ^(K)the people stood looking on. But even the ^(L)rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”

³⁶ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him ^(M)sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”

^38 (N)And an inscription also was ^[b]written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

^39 (O)Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ^[c]“If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

⁴⁰ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done ^(P)nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said ^[d]to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

⁴³ And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in ^(Q)Paradise.”

Jesus Dies on the Cross^(R)

^44 (S)Now it ^[e]was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. ⁴⁵ Then the sun was ^[f]darkened, and ^(T)the veil of the temple was torn in ^[g]two. ⁴⁶ And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ^(U)‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” ^(V)Having said this, He breathed His last.

^47 (W)So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”

⁴⁸ And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. ^49 (X)But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.