6 But the Lord replied to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.”^(A)

God Promises Freedom

² Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’^{[a](B) 4} I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens.^{(C) 5} Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered^(D) my covenant.

⁶ “Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm^(E) and great acts of judgment. ⁷ I will take you as my people,^(F) and I will be your God. You will know^(G) that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land that I swore^[b](H) to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.” ⁹ Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen^(I) to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, ¹¹ “Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go from his land.”

¹² But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker?” ^{[c](J) 13} Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ families:

²⁶ It was this Aaron and Moses whom the Lord told, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their military divisions.”^{(V) 27} Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh

²⁸ On the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ he said to him, “I am the Lord;^(W) tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I am telling you.”

³⁰ But Moses replied in the Lord’s presence, “Since I am such a poor speaker,^(X) how will Pharaoh listen to me?”

7 The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. ² You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land. ³ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart^(Y) and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put my hand into Egypt and bring the military divisions of my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. ⁵ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord^(Z) when I stretch out my hand^(AA) against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old^(AB) and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.’”^{(AC) 10} So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. ¹¹ But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers—the magicians^(AD) of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices.^{(AE) 12} Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. ¹³ However, Pharaoh’s heart was hard,^(AF) and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard: He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake.^{(AG) 16} Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let my people go, so that they may worship^[d] me in the wilderness. But so far you have not listened. ¹⁷ This is what the Lord says: Here is how you will know that I am the Lord. Watch. I am about to strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it.”

¹⁹ So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand^(AH) over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers, canals, ponds, and all their water reservoirs—and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood.^{(AI) 21} The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt.

²² But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. ²³ Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn’t take even this to heart. ²⁴ All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink the water from the river. ²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

The Power of Jesus over a Demon

¹⁴ When they reached the crowd,^(A) a man approached and knelt down before him. ¹⁵ “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures^[a] and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”^(B)

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.”^{(C) 18} Then Jesus rebuked the demon,^[b] and it^[c] came out of him,^(D) and from that moment^[d] the boy was healed.

¹⁹ Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰ “Because of your little faith,” he^[e] told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of ^[f] a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.^(E) Nothing will be impossible for you.”^[g](F)

The Second Prediction of His Death

²² As^(G) they were gathering together^[h] in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. ²³ They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed.

Paying the Temple Tax

²⁴ When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” ^(H)

²⁵ “Yes,” he said.

When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first,^[i] “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers?”^[j](I)

²⁶ “From strangers,” he said.^[k]

“Then the sons are free,” Jesus told him. ²⁷ “But, so we won’t offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin.^[l] Take it and give it to them for me and you.”^(J)