My Rock and My Fortress

Of David.

Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like ^(A)God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your ^(B)prophet. ^2 (C)You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. ³ But ^(D)I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I ^(E)multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, ⁴ Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. ⁵ The Egyptians ^(F)shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” ⁶ Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷ Now Moses was ^(G)eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh says to you, ^(H)‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the ^(I)magicians of Egypt, also ^(J)did the same by their secret arts. ¹² For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Still ^(K)Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, ^(L)as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. ^15 (M)Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand ^(N)the staff that turned into a ^(O)serpent. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ‘The ^(P)Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, ^(Q)that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, “By this ^(R)you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and ^(S)it shall turn into blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will ^(T)grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^(U)stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he ^(V)lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the ^(W)water in the Nile turned into blood. ²¹ And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians ^(X)could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. ²² But ^(Y)the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So ^(Z)Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as ^(AA)the Lord had said. ²³ Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. ²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

²⁵ Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

^22 (A)Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. ^23 (B)And all the people were amazed, and said, ^(C)“Can this be the Son of David?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, ^(D)“It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” ^25 (E)Knowing their thoughts, ^(F)he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶ And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, ^(G)by whom do ^(H)your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁸ But if it is ^(I)by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then ^(J)the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹ Or ^(K)how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed ^(L)he may plunder his house. ^30 (M)Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. ^31 (N)Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but ^(O)the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ³² And whoever speaks a word ^(P)against the Son of Man ^(Q)will be forgiven, but ^(R)whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in ^(S)this age or in the age to come.

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit

^33 (T)“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, ^(U)for the tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (V)You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, ^(W)when you are evil? ^(X)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ^35 (Y)The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. ³⁶ I tell you, ^(Z)on the day of judgment ^(AA)people will give account for ^(AB)every careless word they speak, ³⁷ for ^(AC)by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Sign of Jonah

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, ^(AD)we wish to see a sign from you.” ³⁹ But he answered them, ^(AE)“An evil and ^(AF)adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For ^(AG)just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, ^(AH)so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ^41 (AI)The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and ^(AJ)condemn it, for ^(AK)they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, ^(AL)something greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (AM)The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, ^(AN)something greater than Solomon is here.

Return of an Unclean Spirit

⁴³ “When ^(AO)the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through ^(AP)waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and ^(AQ)the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this ^(AR)evil generation.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

⁴⁶ While he was still speaking to the people, behold, ^(AS)his mother and his ^(AT)brothers^[a] stood outside, asking to speak to him.^{[b] 48} But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰ For ^(AU)whoever ^(AV)does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”