² God also spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty,^[a] but by my name ‘The Lord’^[b] I did not make myself known to them.^{(A) 4} I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens.^{(B) 5} I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have remembered my covenant.^{(C) 6} Say therefore to the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.^{(D) 7} I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians.^{(E) 8} I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.”^{(F) 9} Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, ¹¹ “Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.” ¹² But Moses spoke to the Lord, “The Israelites have not listened to me; why should Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?”^{[c] 13} Thus the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them orders regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to free the Israelites from the land of Egypt.

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went, and he met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.^{(A) 28} Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him and all the signs with which he had charged him.^{(B) 29} Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites.^{(C) 30} Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and performed the signs in the sight of the people.^{(D) 31} The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.^(E)

Bricks without Straw

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.”^{(F) 2} But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”^{(G) 3} Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword.”^{(H) 4} But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!”^{(I) 5} Pharaoh continued, “Now they are more numerous than the people of the land^[a] and yet you want them to stop laboring!”^{(J) 6} That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors,^{(K) 7} “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’^{(L) 9} Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will pay attention to^[b] it and not to deceptive words.”

¹⁰ So the taskmasters and the supervisors of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh: I will not give you straw.^{(M) 11} Go and get straw yourselves, wherever you can find it, but your work will not be lessened in the least.” ¹² So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ The taskmasters urged them on, saying, “Complete your work, the same daily assignment as when you were given straw.”^{[c] 14} And the Israelite supervisors whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them were beaten and were asked, “Why did you not finish the required quantity of bricks yesterday and today, as you did before?”^(N)

¹⁵ Then the Israelite supervisors came to Pharaoh and cried, “Why do you treat your servants like this? ¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look how your servants are beaten! But the fault is with you.”^{[d] 17} He said, “You are lazy, lazy; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’^{(O) 18} Go now and work, for no straw shall be given you, but you shall still deliver the same number of bricks.” ¹⁹ The Israelite supervisors saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You shall not lessen your daily number of bricks.” ²⁰ As they left Pharaoh, they came upon Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them. ²¹ They said to them, “The Lord look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”^(P)

²² Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O my Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me?^{(Q) 23} Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people.”^(R)

Israel’s Deliverance Assured

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh: indeed, by a mighty hand he will let them go; by a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.”^(S)

²² Then they brought Jesus^[a] to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.^(A)

²⁵ It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷ And with him they crucified two rebels, one on his right and one on his left.^{[b] 29} Those who passed by derided^[c] him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days,^{(B) 30} save yourself, and come down from the cross!” ³¹ In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.^{(C) 32} Let the Messiah,^[d] the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.^(D)

The Death of Jesus

³³ When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land^[e] until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”^{[f](E) 35} When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” ³⁶ And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”^{(F) 37} Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. ³⁸ And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.^{(G) 39} Now when the centurion who stood facing him saw that in this way he^[g] breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”^[h](H)

The Crucifixion of Jesus

²⁶ As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.^{(A) 27} A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him.^{(B) 28} But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.^{(C) 29} For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’^{(D) 31} For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”^(E)

³² Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.^{(F) 33} When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus^[a] there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[³⁴ Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”]]^[b] And they cast lots to divide his clothing.^{(G) 35} And the people stood by watching, but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah^[c] of God, his chosen one!”^{(H) 36} The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine^{(I) 37} and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸ There was also an inscription over him,^[d] “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding^[e] him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah?^[f] Save yourself and us!”^{(J) 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 have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”^{(K) 42} Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in^[g] your kingdom.” ⁴³ He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”^(L)

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁴ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land^[h] until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ while the sun’s light failed,^[i] and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.^{(M) 46} Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last.^{(N) 47} When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.”^{[j](O) 48} And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.^(P)