Aaron’s Staff Turns into a Serpent

⁸ Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘^[a](A)Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘^(B)Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, so that it may turn into a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and so they did, just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and ^[b]his servants, and it ^(C)turned into a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh also ^(D)called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they too, the ^(E)soothsayer priests of Egypt, did the same with ^(F)their secret arts. ¹² For each one threw down his staff, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. ¹³ Yet ^(G)Pharaoh’s heart was ^[c]hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Water Turned into Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is ^[d]stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning ^[e]just as ^(H)he is going out to the water, and position yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand ^(I)the staff that was turned into a serpent. ¹⁶ And ^(J)you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “^(K)Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened up to now.” ¹⁷ This is what the Lord says: “^(L)By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I am going to strike ^[f]the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and ^(M)it will be turned into blood. ¹⁸ Then ^(N)the fish that are in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will ^[g](O)no longer be able to drink water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^(P)extend your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their ^[h]streams, over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, so that they may become blood; and there will be blood through all the land of Egypt, both in containers of wood and in containers of stone.’”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up ^[i](Q)the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants; and ^(R)all the water that was in the Nile was turned into blood. ²¹ Then the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. ^22 (S)But the soothsayer priests of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was ^[j]hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. ²³ Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house ^[k]with no concern even for this. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink from the water of the Nile. ²⁵ Seven days ^[l]passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

Miracle at Cana

2 On ^(A)the third day there was a wedding in ^(B)Cana of Galilee, and the ^(C)mother of Jesus was there; ² and both Jesus and His ^(D)disciples were invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.” ⁴ And Jesus *said to her, “^[a](E)What business do you have with Me, ^(F)woman? ^(G)My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His ^(H)mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He tells you, do it.” ⁶ Now there were six stone waterpots standing there ^(I)for the Jewish custom of purification, containing ^[b]two or three measures each. ⁷ Jesus *said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the ^[c]headwaiter.” And they took it to him. ⁹ Now when the headwaiter tasted the water ^(J)which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the groom, ¹⁰ and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the guests ^(K)are drunk, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹ This beginning of His ^[d](L)signs Jesus did in Cana of ^(M)Galilee, and revealed His ^(N)glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

¹² After this He went down to ^(O)Capernaum, He and His ^(P)mother, and His ^(Q)brothers and His ^(R)disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

First Passover—Cleansing the Temple

^13 (S)The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus ^(T)went up to Jerusalem. ^14 (U)And within the temple grounds He found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵ And He made a whip of ^[e]cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; ¹⁶ and to those who were selling ^(V)the doves He said, “Take these things away from here; stop making ^(W)My Father’s house a ^[f]place of business!” ¹⁷ His ^(X)disciples remembered that it was written: “^(Y)Zeal for Your house will consume me.” ^18 (Z)The Jews then said to Him, “^(AA)What sign do You show us ^[g]as your authority for doing these things?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “^(AB)Destroy this ^[h]temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ^20 (AC)The Jews then said, “It took ^(AD)forty-six years to build this ^[i]temple, and yet You will raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But He was speaking about ^(AE)the ^[j]temple of His body. ²² So when He was raised from the dead, His ^(AF)disciples ^(AG)remembered that He said this; and they believed ^(AH)the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

²³ Now when He was in Jerusalem at ^(AI)the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name as they ^(AJ)observed His signs which He was doing. ²⁴ But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because ^(AK)He knew all people, ²⁵ and because He did not need anyone to testify about mankind, ^(AL)for He Himself knew what was in mankind.

Frogs over the Land

8 ^[a]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “^(A)Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ² But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I am going to strike your entire territory with frogs. ³ The Nile will ^(B)swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your house, and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls. ⁴ So the frogs will come up on you, your people, and on all your servants.”’” ^5 [b]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘^(C)Extend your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the ^[c]streams, and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” ⁶ So Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the ^[d](D)frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ However, ^(E)the soothsayer priests did the same with their secret arts, ^[e]making frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh ^(F)called for Moses and Aaron and said, “^(G)Plead with the Lord ^[f]to remove the frogs from me and from my people; and ^(H)I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.” ⁹ And Moses said to Pharaoh, “^[g]The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I plead for you and your servants and your people, ^[h]that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they be left only in the Nile?”

¹⁰ Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, so that you may know that there is ^(I)no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The ^(J)frogs will depart from you and your houses, and from your servants and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.” ¹² Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and ^(K)Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had ^[i]inflicted upon Pharaoh. ¹³ The Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. ¹⁴ So they piled them in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he ^[j]hardened his heart and ^(L)did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Insects

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may turn into ^[k]gnats through all the land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷ They did so; and Aaron extended his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were ^[l]gnats on every ^[m]person and animal. All the dust of the earth turned into ^[n](M)gnats through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ The soothsayer priests tried with their secret arts to produce ^[o]gnats, but ^(N)they could not; so there were ^[p]gnats on every person and animal. ¹⁹ Then the soothsayer priests said to Pharaoh, “^(O)This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was ^[q]hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

^2 (A)Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; ³ praying at the same time ^(B)for us as well, that God will open up to us a ^(C)door for ^(D)the word, so that we may proclaim ^(E)the mystery of Christ, for which I have also ^(F)been imprisoned; ⁴ that I may make it clear ^(G)in the way that I ought to proclaim it.

^5 [a](H)Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward ^(I)outsiders, ^[b](J)making the most of the opportunity. ^6 (K)Your speech must always be ^[c]with grace, as though seasoned with ^(L)salt, so that you will know how you should ^(M)respond to each person.

^7 (N)As to all my affairs, ^(O)Tychicus, our ^(P)beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. ^8 (Q)For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may ^(R)encourage your hearts; ^9 [d]and with him is ^(S)Onesimus, our faithful and ^(T)beloved brother, ^(U)who is one of your own. They will inform you about the whole situation here.

^10 (V)Aristarchus, my ^(W)fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also ^(X)Barnabas’ cousin Mark (about whom you received ^[e]instructions; ^(Y)if he comes to you, welcome him); ¹¹ and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only ^(Z)fellow workers for the kingdom of God ^(AA)who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me. ^12 (AB)Epaphras, ^(AC)who is one of your own, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings, always ^(AD)striving earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may ^[f]stand ^[g](AE)mature and ^[h]fully assured in all the will of God. ¹³ For I testify for him that he has ^[i]a deep concern for you and for those who are in ^(AF)Laodicea and Hierapolis. ^14 (AG)Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and ^(AH)Demas does also. ¹⁵ Greet the brothers and sisters who are in ^(AI)Laodicea and also ^[j]Nympha and ^(AJ)the church that is in ^[k]her house. ^16 (AK)When ^[l]this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part, ^(AL)read ^[m]my letter that is coming from ^(AM)Laodicea. ¹⁷ Tell ^(AN)Archippus, “See to the ^(AO)ministry which you have received in the Lord, so that you may ^[n]fulfill it.”

^18 [o]I, Paul, ^(AP)write this greeting with my own hand. ^(AQ)Remember my ^[p](AR)imprisonment. ^(AS)Grace be with you.