The Earthly Sanctuary^(A)

9 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and ^(B)the earthly sanctuary. ² For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the ^[a]sanctuary; ^3 (C)and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴ which had the ^(D)golden censer and ^(E)the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were ^(F)the golden pot that had the manna, ^(G)Aaron’s rod that budded, and ^(H)the tablets of the covenant; ⁵ and ^(I)above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Limitations of the Earthly Service

⁶ Now when these things had been thus prepared, ^(J)the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷ But into the second part the high priest went alone ^(K)once a year, not without blood, which he offered for ^(L)himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; ⁸ the Holy Spirit indicating this, that ^(M)the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹ It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered ^(N)which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— ¹⁰ concerned only with ^(O)foods and drinks, ^(P)various ^[b]washings, ^(Q)and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

The Heavenly Sanctuary

¹¹ But Christ came as High Priest of ^(R)the good things ^[c]to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not ^(S)with the blood of goats and calves, but ^(T)with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place ^(U)once for all, ^(V)having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ For if ^(W)the blood of bulls and goats and ^(X)the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, ^[d]sanctifies for the ^[e]purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without ^[f]spot to God, ^(Y)cleanse your conscience from ^(Z)dead works ^(AA)to serve the living God? ¹⁵ And for this reason ^(AB)He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that ^(AC)those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

The Mediator’s Death Necessary

¹⁶ For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. ¹⁷ For ^(AD)a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. ^18 (AE)Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. ¹⁹ For when Moses had spoken every ^[g]precept to all the people according to the law, ^(AF)he took the blood of calves and goats, ^(AG)with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, ^(AH)“This is the ^(AI)blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” ²¹ Then likewise ^(AJ)he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. ²² And according to the law almost all things are ^[h]purified with blood, and ^(AK)without shedding of blood there is no ^[i]remission.

Aaron Is Moses’ Spokesman

²⁸ And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. ^(A)Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, ^(B)I am ^[a]of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”

Moses Before Pharaoh

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

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

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod^(R)

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ^(S)‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ^(T)‘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 ^(U)as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it ^(V)became a serpent.

¹¹ But Pharaoh also ^(W)called the wise men and ^(X)the ^[c]sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also ^(Y)did in like manner with their ^[d]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: ^(Z)“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 ^(AA)water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and ^(AB)the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ^(AC)‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, ^(AD)that they may ^[e]serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord: “By this ^(AE)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 ^(AF)they shall be turned ^(AG)to blood. ¹⁸ And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will ^(AH)loathe^[f] to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”

¹⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and ^(AI)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 ^(AJ)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 ^(AK)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 ^(AL)could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

^22 (AM)Then the magicians of Egypt did ^(AN)so with their ^[g]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, ^(AO)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, ^(AP)that they may serve Me. ² But if you ^(AQ)refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with ^(AR)frogs. ³ So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your ^(AS)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, ^(AT)‘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 ^(AU)the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ^7 (AV)And the magicians did so with their ^[h]enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, ^(AW)“Entreat^[i] the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people ^(AX)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 ^(AY)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 ^(AZ)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 ^(BA)relief, ^(BB)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 ^[j]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 ^(BC)it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸ Now ^(BD)the magicians so worked with their ^[k]enchantments to bring forth lice, but they ^(BE)could not. So there were lice on man and beast. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is ^(BF)the^[l] finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s ^(BG)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, ^(BH)“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(BI)“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 ^(BJ)I will set apart the land of ^(BK)Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may ^(BL)know that I am the Lord in the midst of the ^(BM)land. ²³ I will ^[m]make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this ^(BN)sign shall be.” ’ ” ²⁴ And the Lord did so. ^(BO)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 ^(BP)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 ^[n]stone us? ²⁷ We will go ^(BQ)three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as ^(BR)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. ^(BS)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 ^(BT)deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

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

The Value of Wisdom