The Plague of Frogs

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

8 ^1 [a]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship^(A) me. ² If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs^(B) on your whole country. ³ The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people,^(C) and into your ovens and kneading troughs.^{(D) 4} The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’”

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff^(E) over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs^(F) come up on the land of Egypt.’”

⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs^(G) came up and covered the land. ⁷ But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts;^(H) they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray^(I) to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices^(J) to the Lord.”

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of setting the time^(K) for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.”

¹⁰ “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.

Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God.^{(L) 11} The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”

¹² After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. ¹³ And the Lord did what Moses asked.^(M) The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. ¹⁴ They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief,^(N) he hardened his heart^(O) and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Man of God From Judah

13 By the word of the Lord a man of God^(A) came from Judah to Bethel,^(B) as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. ² By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah^(C) will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places^(D) who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” ³ That same day the man of God gave a sign:^(E) “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”

⁴ When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. ⁵ Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.

⁶ Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede^(F) with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.

⁷ The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.”^(G)

⁸ But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions,^(H) I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread^(I) or drink water here. ⁹ For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” ¹⁰ So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Accused by His Family and by Teachers of the Law^(A)(B)

²⁰ Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered,^(C) so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.^{(D) 21} When his family^[a] heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”^(E)

²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem^(F) said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul!^(G) By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”^(H)

²³ So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables:^(I) “How can Satan^(J) drive out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷ In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.^{(K) 28} Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”^(L)

³⁰ He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”