Miraculous Signs for Pharaoh

4 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

² So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

He said, “A rod.”

³ And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), ⁵ “that they may ^(A)believe that the ^(B)Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

⁶ Furthermore the Lord said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, ^(C)like snow. ⁷ And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, ^(D)it was restored like his other flesh. ⁸ “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the ^(E)first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. ⁹ And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from ^[a]the river and pour it on the dry land. ^(F)The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”

¹⁰ Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but ^(G)I am slow of speech and ^[b]slow of tongue.”

¹¹ So the Lord said to him, ^(H)“Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore, go, and I will be ^(I)with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

¹³ But he said, “O my Lord, ^(J)please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

¹⁴ So ^(K)the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your ^(L)brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, ^(M)he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ Now ^(N)you shall speak to him and ^(O)put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and ^(P)I will teach you what you shall do. ¹⁶ So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and ^(Q)you shall be to him as God. ¹⁷ And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”

Moses Goes to Egypt

¹⁸ So Moses went and returned to ^(R)Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”

And Jethro said to Moses, ^(S)“Go in peace.”

¹⁹ Now the Lord said to Moses in ^(T)Midian, “Go, return to ^(U)Egypt; for all the men who ^(V)sought your life are dead.” ²⁰ Then Moses ^(W)took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(X)the rod of God in his hand.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those ^(Y)wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But ^(Z)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall ^(AA)say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(AB)“Israel is My son, ^(AC)My firstborn. ²³ So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed ^(AD)I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”

²⁴ And it came to pass on the way, at the ^(AE)encampment, that the Lord ^(AF)met him and sought to ^(AG)kill him. ²⁵ Then ^(AH)Zipporah took ^(AI)a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and ^[c]cast it at ^[d]Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” ²⁶ So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a ^[e]husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.

²⁷ And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness ^(AJ)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on ^(AK)the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ So Moses ^(AL)told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the ^(AM)signs which He had commanded him. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron ^(AN)went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. ^30 (AO)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 ^(AP)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had ^(AQ)visited the children of Israel and that He ^(AR)had looked on their affliction, then ^(AS)they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Old Testament Examples

10 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under ^(A)the cloud, all passed through ^(B)the sea, ² all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ all ate the same ^(C)spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same ^(D)spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. ⁵ But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies ^(E)were scattered in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as ^(F)they also lusted. ^7 (G)And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ^(H)“The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” ^8 (I)Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as ^(J)some of them did, and ^(K)in one day twenty-three thousand fell; ⁹ nor let us ^[a]tempt Christ, as ^(L)some of them also tempted, and ^(M)were destroyed by serpents; ¹⁰ nor complain, as ^(N)some of them also complained, and ^(O)were destroyed by ^(P)the destroyer. ¹¹ Now ^[b]all these things happened to them as examples, and ^(Q)they were written for our ^[c]admonition, ^(R)upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

¹² Therefore ^(S)let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but ^(T)God is faithful, ^(U)who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to ^[d]bear it.

Flee from Idolatry

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, ^(V)flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to ^(W)wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. ^16 (X)The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the ^[e]communion of the blood of Christ? ^(Y)The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? ¹⁷ For ^(Z)we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

¹⁸ Observe ^(AA)Israel ^(AB)after the flesh: ^(AC)Are not those who eat of the sacrifices ^[f]partakers of the altar? ¹⁹ What am I saying then? ^(AD)That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? ²⁰ Rather, that the things which the Gentiles ^(AE)sacrifice ^(AF)they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. ^21 (AG)You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and ^(AH)the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the ^(AI)Lord’s table and of the table of demons. ²² Or do we ^(AJ)provoke the Lord to jealousy? ^(AK)Are we stronger than He?

All to the Glory of God^(AL)

²³ All things are lawful ^[g]for me, but not all things are ^(AM)helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things ^[h]edify. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own, but each one ^(AN)the other’s well-being.

^25 (AO)Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; ²⁶ for ^(AP)“the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”

²⁷ If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, ^(AQ)eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake. ²⁸ But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it ^(AR)for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; ^[i]for ^(AS)“the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” ²⁹ “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For ^(AT)why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? ³⁰ But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food ^(AU)over which I give thanks?

^31 (AV)Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ^32 (AW)Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, ³³ just ^(AX)as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.