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, ^(A)that they may serve Me. ² But if you ^(B)refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with ^(C)frogs. ³ So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your ^(D)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, ^(E)‘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 ^(F)the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ^7 (G)And the magicians did so with their ^[a]enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, ^(H)“Entreat^[b] the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people ^(I)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 ^(J)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 ^(K)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 ^(L)relief, ^(M)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 ^[c]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 ^(N)it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸ Now ^(O)the magicians so worked with their ^[d]enchantments to bring forth lice, but they ^(P)could not. So there were lice on man and beast. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is ^(Q)the^[e] finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s ^(R)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, ^(S)“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(T)“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 ^(U)I will set apart the land of ^(V)Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may ^(W)know that I am the Lord in the midst of the ^(X)land. ²³ I will ^[f]make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this ^(Y)sign shall be.” ’ ” ²⁴ And the Lord did so. ^(Z)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 ^(AA)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 ^[g]stone us? ²⁷ We will go ^(AB)three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as ^(AC)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. ^(AD)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 ^(AE)deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

³⁰ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and ^(AF)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 ^(AG)hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.

Ahab Defeats the Syrians

20 Now ^(A)Ben-Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his forces together; thirty-two kings were with him, with horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged ^(B)Samaria, and made war against it. ² Then he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, “Thus says Ben-Hadad: ³ ‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your loveliest wives and children are mine.’ ”

⁴ And the king of Israel answered and said, “My lord, O king, just as you say, I and all that I have are yours.”

⁵ Then the messengers came back and said, “Thus speaks Ben-Hadad, saying, ‘Indeed I have sent to you, saying, “You shall deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children”; ⁶ but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants. And it shall be, that whatever is ^[a]pleasant in your eyes, they will put it in their hands and take it.’ ”

⁷ So the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, “Notice, please, and see how this man seeks trouble, for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold; and I did not deny him.”

⁸ And all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent.”

⁹ Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you sent for to your servant the first time I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’ ”

And the messengers departed and brought back word to him.

¹⁰ Then Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, ^(C)“The gods do so to me, and more also, if enough dust is left of Samaria for a handful for each of the people ^[b]who follow me.”

¹¹ So the king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor ^(D)boast like the one who takes it off.’ ”

¹² And it happened when Ben-Hadad heard this message, as he and the kings were ^(E)drinking at the ^[c]command post, that he said to his servants, “Get ready.” And they got ready to attack the city.

¹³ Suddenly a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, ^(F)I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

¹⁴ So Ahab said, “By whom?”

And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘By the young leaders of the provinces.’ ”

Then he said, “Who will set the battle in order?”

And he answered, “You.”

¹⁵ Then he mustered the young leaders of the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he mustered all the people, all the children of Israel—seven thousand.

¹⁶ So they went out at noon. Meanwhile Ben-Hadad and the thirty-two kings helping him were ^(G)getting drunk at the command post. ¹⁷ The young leaders of the provinces went out first. And Ben-Hadad sent out a patrol, and they told him, saying, “Men are coming out of Samaria!” ¹⁸ So he said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; and if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

¹⁹ Then these young leaders of the provinces went out of the city with the army which followed them. ²⁰ And each one killed his man; so the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the cavalry. ²¹ Then the king of Israel went out and attacked the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him^(A)

^31 (B)Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. ³² And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers ^[a]are outside seeking You.”

³³ But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” ³⁴ And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the ^(C)will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”