“I Will Stretch Out My Hand”

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(A)See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. ² You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother ^(B)Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. ³ But ^(C)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may ^(D)multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ When ^(E)Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and ^(F)bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by ^(G)great judgments. ^5 (H)The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(I)stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron did it; ^(J)as the Lord commanded them, thus they did. ⁷ Moses was ^(K)eighty years old and Aaron ^[a]eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Serpent

⁸ Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘^[b](L)Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘^(M)Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and ^[c]his servants, and it ^(N)became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh also ^(O)called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the ^[d](P)magicians of Egypt, did ^[e]the same with ^(Q)their secret arts. ¹² For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Yet ^(R)Pharaoh’s heart was ^[f]hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Water Is Turned to Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is ^[g]stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning ^[h]as ^(S)he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand ^(T)the staff that was turned into a serpent. ^16 (U)You shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “^(V)Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, “^(W)By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike ^[i]the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and ^(X)it will be turned to blood. ^18 (Y)The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will ^[j]become foul, and the Egyptians will ^[k](Z)find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^(AA)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their ^[l]streams, and over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did even as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up ^[m](AB)the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and ^(AC)all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile ^[n]became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. ^22 (AD)But the ^[o]magicians of Egypt did ^[p]the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was ^[q]hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. ²³ Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house ^[r]with no concern even for this. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. ²⁵ Seven days ^[s]passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

Instruction about Prayer

11 It happened that while ^[a]Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” ² And He said to them, “^(A)When you pray, say:

⁵ Then He said to them, “^[d]Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children ^[e]and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet ^(D)because of his ^[f]persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹ “So I say to you, ^[g](E)ask, and it will be given to you; ^[h]seek, and you will find; ^[i]knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. ¹¹ Now ^[j]suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a ^[k]fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? ¹² Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? ^13 (F)If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your ^[l]heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Pharisees’ Blasphemy

^14 (G)And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out demons ^(H)by ^(I)Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” ¹⁶ Others, ^[m]to test Him, ^(J)were demanding of Him a ^[n]sign from heaven. ^17 (K)But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “^[o]Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against ^[p]itself falls. ¹⁸ If ^(L)Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by ^(M)Beelzebul. ¹⁹ And if I by ^(N)Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I cast out demons by the ^(O)finger of God, then ^(P)the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹ When ^[q]a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are ^[r]undisturbed. ²² But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. ^23 (Q)He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

²⁴ “^(R)When the unclean spirit goes out of ^[s]a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

²⁷ While ^[t]Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “^(S)Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” ²⁸ But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are ^(T)those who hear the word of God and observe it.”