Moses Before Pharaoh

7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you ^(A)as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be ^(B)your prophet. ² You ^(C)shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. ³ And ^(D)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and ^(E)multiply My ^(F)signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But ^(G)Pharaoh will not heed you, so ^(H)that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My ^[a]armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt ^(I)by great judgments. ⁵ And the Egyptians ^(J)shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(K)stretch out My hand on Egypt and ^(L)bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

⁶ Then Moses and Aaron ^(M)did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷ And Moses was ^(N)eighty years old and ^(O)Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod^(P)

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ^(Q)‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ^(R)‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just ^(S)as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it ^(T)became a serpent.

¹¹ But Pharaoh also ^(U)called the wise men and ^(V)the ^[b]sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also ^(W)did in like manner with their ^[c]enchantments. ¹² For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. ¹³ And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Waters Become Blood

¹⁴ So the Lord said to Moses: ^(X)“Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the ^(Y)water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and ^(Z)the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ^(AA)‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, ^(AB)that they may ^[d]serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord: “By this ^(AC)you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and ^(AD)they shall be turned ^(AE)to blood. ¹⁸ And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will ^(AF)loathe^[e] to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”

¹⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and ^(AG)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ” ²⁰ And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he ^(AH)lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the ^(AI)waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹ The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians ^(AJ)could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

^22 (AK)Then the magicians of Egypt did ^(AL)so with their ^[f]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, ^(AM)as the Lord had said. ²³ And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. ²⁴ So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. ²⁵ And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.

The Second Plague: Frogs

8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, ^(AN)that they may serve Me. ² But if you ^(AO)refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with ^(AP)frogs. ³ So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your ^(AQ)bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. ⁴ And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ”

⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ^(AR)‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” ⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and ^(AS)the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ^7 (AT)And the magicians did so with their ^[g]enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, ^(AU)“Entreat^[h] the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people ^(AV)go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

⁹ And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.”

¹⁰ So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that ^(AW)there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

¹² Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses ^(AX)cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. ¹³ So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. ¹⁴ They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was ^(AY)relief, ^(AZ)he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

The Third Plague: Lice

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become ^[i]lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” ¹⁷ And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and ^(BA)it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸ Now ^(BB)the magicians so worked with their ^[j]enchantments to bring forth lice, but they ^(BC)could not. So there were lice on man and beast. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is ^(BD)the^[k] finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s ^(BE)heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(BF)“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(BG)“Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ²¹ Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. ²² And in that day ^(BH)I will set apart the land of ^(BI)Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may ^(BJ)know that I am the Lord in the midst of the ^(BK)land. ²³ I will ^[l]make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this ^(BL)sign shall be.” ’ ” ²⁴ And the Lord did so. ^(BM)Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

²⁵ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”

²⁶ And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing ^(BN)the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not ^[m]stone us? ²⁷ We will go ^(BO)three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as ^(BP)He will command us.”

²⁸ So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. ^(BQ)Intercede for me.”

²⁹ Then Moses said, “Indeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat the Lord, that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. But let Pharaoh not ^(BR)deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

³⁰ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and ^(BS)entreated the Lord. ³¹ And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. ³² But Pharaoh ^(BT)hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.

Greeting

1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, ^(A)called to be an apostle, ^(B)separated to the gospel of God ^2 (C)which He promised before ^(D)through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, ³ concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who ^[a]was ^(E)born of the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴ and ^(F)declared to be the Son of God with power according ^(G)to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. ⁵ Through Him ^(H)we have received grace and apostleship for ^(I)obedience to the faith among all nations ^(J)for His name, ⁶ among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

⁷ To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, ^(K)called to be saints:

^(L)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Desire to Visit Rome

⁸ First, ^(M)I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that ^(N)your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. ⁹ For ^(O)God is my witness, ^(P)whom I serve ^[b]with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that ^(Q)without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, ¹⁰ making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, that ^(R)I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— ¹² that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by ^(S)the mutual faith both of you and me.

¹³ Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but ^(T)was hindered until now), that I might have some ^(U)fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. ¹⁵ So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

The Just Live by Faith

¹⁶ For ^(V)I am not ashamed of the gospel ^[c]of Christ, for ^(W)it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, ^(X)for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For ^(Y)in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ^(Z)“The just shall live by faith.”

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

^18 (AA)For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and ^(AB)unrighteousness of men, who ^[d]suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because ^(AC)what may be known of God is ^[e]manifest ^[f]in them, for ^(AD)God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world ^(AE)His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and ^[g]Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but ^(AF)became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (AG)Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the ^(AH)incorruptible ^(AI)God into an image made like ^[h]corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

^24 (AJ)Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, ^(AK)to dishonor their bodies ^(AL)among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged ^(AM)the truth of God ^(AN)for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to ^(AO)vile passions. For even their ^[i]women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the ^[j]men, leaving the natural use of the ^[k]woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things ^(AP)which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, ^[l]sexual immorality, wickedness, ^[m]covetousness, ^[n]maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ^31 [o]undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, ^[p]unforgiving, unmerciful; ³² who, ^(AQ)knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things ^(AR)are deserving of death, not only do the same but also ^(AS)approve of those who practice them.

Love for God and One Another

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but ^(A)test the spirits, whether they are of God; because ^(B)many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(C)Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess ^[a]that Jesus ^[b]Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

⁴ You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than ^(D)he who is in the world. ^5 (E)They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and ^(F)the world hears them. ⁶ We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. ^(G)By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Knowing God Through Love^(H)

^7 (I)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who ^(J)loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ^9 (K)In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten ^(L)Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, ^(M)not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son ^(N)to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, ^(O)if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Seeing God Through Love

^12 (P)No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. ^13 (Q)By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ And ^(R)we have seen and testify that ^(S)the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. ^15 (T)Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and ^(U)he who abides in love abides in God, and God ^(V)in him.

The Consummation of Love

¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that ^(W)we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. ^19 (X)We love ^[c]Him because He first loved us.

Obedience by Faith

^20 (Y)If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, ^[d]how can he love God ^(Z)whom he has not seen? ²¹ And ^(AA)this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.