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 ^(A)a strong hand he will ^(B)drive them out of his land.”

² God spoke to Moses and said to him, ^(C)“I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^(D)God Almighty,^[a] but by my name the ^(E)Lord I did not make myself known to them. ^4 (F)I also established my covenant with them ^(G)to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. ⁵ Moreover, ^(H)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, ^(I)‘I am the Lord, and ^(J)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and ^(K)I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. ⁷ I ^(L)will take you to be my people, and ^(M)I will be your God, and you shall know that ^(N)I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out ^(O)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you into ^(P)the land that I ^(Q)swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. ^(R)I am the Lord.’” ⁹ Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they ^(S)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 ^(T)not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for ^(U)I am of uncircumcised lips?”

Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like ^(A)God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your ^(B)prophet. ^2 (C)You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. ³ But ^(D)I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I ^(E)multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, ⁴ Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. ⁵ The Egyptians ^(F)shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” ⁶ Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷ Now Moses was ^(G)eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

The Third Plague: Gnats

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ^(A)‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷ And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and ^(B)there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ The ^(C)magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is ^(D)the finger of God.” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

^32 (A)Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ^33 (B)And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, ^(C)one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, ^(D)forgive them, ^(E)for they know not what they do.”^[a] And they cast lots ^(F)to divide his garments.