Exodus 12:22-51

New International Version

²²Take a bunch of hyssop,^(A) dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood^(B) on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. ²³When the Lord goes through the land to strike^(C) down the Egyptians, he will see the blood^(D) on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over^(E) that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer^(F) to enter your houses and strike you down.

²⁴“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance^(G) for you and your descendants. ²⁵When you enter the land^(H) that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. ²⁶And when your children^(I) ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ²⁷then tell them, ‘It is the Passover^(J) sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”^(K) Then the people bowed down and worshiped.^(L) ²⁸The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded^(M) Moses and Aaron.

²⁹At midnight^(N) the Lord^(O) struck down all the firstborn^(P) in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock^(Q) as well. ³⁰Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing^(R) in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

The Exodus

³¹During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship^(S) the Lord as you have requested. ³²Take your flocks and herds,^(T) as you have said, and go. And also bless^(U) me.”

³³The Egyptians urged the people to hurry^(V) and leave^(W) the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”^(X) ³⁴So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs^(Y) wrapped in clothing. ³⁵The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold^(Z) and for clothing.^(AA) ³⁶The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed^(AB) toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered^(AC) the Egyptians.

³⁷The Israelites journeyed from Rameses^(AD) to Sukkoth.^(AE) There were about six hundred thousand men^(AF) on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸Many other people^(AG) went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out^(AH) of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

⁴⁰Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt^[a] was 430 years.^(AI) ⁴¹At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions^(AJ) left Egypt.^(AK) ⁴²Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.^(AL)

Passover Restrictions

⁴³The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:^(AM)

“No foreigner^(AN) may eat it. ⁴⁴Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised^(AO) him, ⁴⁵but a temporary resident or a hired worker^(AP) may not eat it.

⁴⁶“It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.^(AQ) ⁴⁷The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

⁴⁸“A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land.^(AR) No uncircumcised^(AS) male may eat it. ⁴⁹The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner^(AT) residing among you.”

⁵⁰All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded^(AU) Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt^(AV) by their divisions.^(AW)

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Footnotes

Exodus 12:40 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint Egypt and Canaan

Job 30

New International Version

30 “But now they mock me,^(A)
    men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to put with my sheep dogs.^(B)
²Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
    since their vigor had gone from them?
³Haggard from want and hunger,
    they roamed^[a] the parched land^(C)
    in desolate wastelands^(D) at night.^(E)
⁴In the brush they gathered salt herbs,^(F)
    and their food^[b] was the root of the broom bush.^(G)
⁵They were banished from human society,
    shouted at as if they were thieves.
⁶They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
    among the rocks and in holes in the ground.^(H)
⁷They brayed^(I) among the bushes^(J)
    and huddled in the undergrowth.
⁸A base and nameless brood,^(K)
    they were driven out of the land.^(L)

⁹“And now those young men mock me^(M) in song;^(N)
    I have become a byword^(O) among them.
¹⁰They detest me^(P) and keep their distance;
    they do not hesitate to spit in my face.^(Q)
¹¹Now that God has unstrung my bow^(R) and afflicted me,^(S)
    they throw off restraint^(T) in my presence.
¹²On my right^(U) the tribe^[c] attacks;
    they lay snares^(V) for my feet,^(W)
    they build their siege ramps against me.^(X)
¹³They break up my road;^(Y)
    they succeed in destroying me.^(Z)
    ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
¹⁴They advance as through a gaping breach;^(AA)
    amid the ruins they come rolling in.
¹⁵Terrors^(AB) overwhelm me;^(AC)
    my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
    my safety vanishes like a cloud.^(AD)

¹⁶“And now my life ebbs away;^(AE)
    days of suffering grip me.^(AF)
¹⁷Night pierces my bones;
    my gnawing pains never rest.^(AG)
¹⁸In his great power^(AH) God becomes like clothing to me^[d];
    he binds me like the neck of my garment.
¹⁹He throws me into the mud,^(AI)
    and I am reduced to dust and ashes.^(AJ)

²⁰“I cry out to you,^(AK) God, but you do not answer;^(AL)
    I stand up, but you merely look at me.
²¹You turn on me ruthlessly;^(AM)
    with the might of your hand^(AN) you attack me.^(AO)
²²You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;^(AP)
    you toss me about in the storm.^(AQ)
²³I know you will bring me down to death,^(AR)
    to the place appointed for all the living.^(AS)

²⁴“Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man^(AT)
    when he cries for help in his distress.^(AU)
²⁵Have I not wept for those in trouble?^(AV)
    Has not my soul grieved for the poor?^(AW)
²⁶Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
    when I looked for light, then came darkness.^(AX)
²⁷The churning inside me never stops;^(AY)
    days of suffering confront me.^(AZ)
²⁸I go about blackened,^(BA) but not by the sun;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.^(BB)
²⁹I have become a brother of jackals,^(BC)
    a companion of owls.^(BD)
³⁰My skin grows black^(BE) and peels;^(BF)
    my body burns with fever.^(BG)
³¹My lyre is tuned to mourning,^(BH)
    and my pipe^(BI) to the sound of wailing.

Footnotes

Job 30:3 Or gnawed
Job 30:4 Or fuel
Job 30:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Job 30:18 Hebrew; Septuagint power he grasps my clothing

James 3

New International Version

Taming the Tongue

3 Not many of you should become teachers,^(A) my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged^(B) more strictly.^(C) ²We all stumble^(D) in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say^(E) is perfect,^(F) able to keep their whole body in check.^(G)

³When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.^(H) ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.^(I) Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶The tongue also is a fire,^(J) a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body,^(K) sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.^(L)

⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, ⁸but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.^(M)

⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.^(N) ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?^(O) Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Two Kinds of Wisdom

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it^(P) by their good life, by deeds^(Q) done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition^(R) in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.^(S) ¹⁵Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven^(T) but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.^(U) ¹⁶For where you have envy and selfish ambition,^(V) there you find disorder and every evil practice.

¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from heaven^(W) is first of all pure; then peace-loving,^(X) considerate, submissive, full of mercy^(Y) and good fruit, impartial and sincere.^(Z) ¹⁸Peacemakers^(AA) who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.^(AB)