The Fifth Plague: Livestock Diseased

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may ^(B)serve Me. ² For if you ^(C)refuse to let them go, and still hold them, ³ behold, the ^(D)hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence. ⁴ And ^(E)the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ” ⁵ Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”

⁶ So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and ^(F)all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. ⁷ Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the ^(G)heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils^(H)

⁸ So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹ And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause ^(I)boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused ^(J)boils that break out in sores on man and beast. ¹¹ And the ^(K)magicians could not stand before Moses because of the ^(L)boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. ¹² But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he ^(M)did not heed them, just ^(N)as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord

11 But ^(A)King Solomon loved ^(B)many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— ² from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, ^(C)“You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³ And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. ⁴ For it was so, when Solomon was old, ^(D)that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his ^(E)heart was not ^[a]loyal to the Lord his God, ^(F)as was the heart of his father David. ⁵ For Solomon went after ^(G)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after ^(H)Milcom^[b] the abomination of the ^(I)Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. ^7 (J)Then Solomon built a ^[c]high place for ^(K)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on ^(L)the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. ⁸ And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, ^(M)who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and ^(N)had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, ^(O)I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your ^(P)servant. ¹² Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ^13 (Q)However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give ^(R)one tribe to your son ^(S)for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem ^(T)which I have chosen.”

The Lukewarm Church

¹⁴ “And to the ^[a]angel of the church ^[b]of the Laodiceans write,

^(A)‘These things says the Amen, ^(B)the Faithful and True Witness, ^(C)the Beginning of the creation of God: ^15 (D)“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither ^[c]cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, ^(E)‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— ¹⁸ I counsel you ^(F)to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and ^(G)white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. ^19 (H)As many as I love, I rebuke and ^(I)chasten.^[d] Therefore be ^[e]zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, ^(J)I stand at the door and knock. ^(K)If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, ^(L)I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹ To him who overcomes ^(M)I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

^22 (N)“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ ”