Israel’s Deliverance Assured^(A)

²² So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

God Renews His Promise to Israel

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For ^(B)with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand ^(C)he will drive them out of his land.”

² And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am ^[a]the Lord. ^3 (D)I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^(E)God Almighty, but by My name ^(F)Lord^[b] I was not known to them. ^4 (G)I have also ^[c]established My covenant with them, ^(H)to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their ^[d]pilgrimage, ^(I)in which they were ^[e]strangers. ⁵ And ^(J)I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶ Therefore say to the children of Israel: ^(K)‘I am the Lord; ^(L)I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will ^(M)rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with ^[f]an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷ I will ^(N)take you as My people, and ^(O)I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out ^(P)from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ And I will bring you into the land which I ^(Q)swore^[g] to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ” ⁹ So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; ^(R)but they did not heed Moses, because of ^(S)anguish^[h] of spirit and cruel bondage.

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

¹² And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for ^(T)I am ^[i]of uncircumcised lips?”

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a ^(U)command^[j] for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Family of Moses and Aaron^(V)

¹⁴ These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: ^(W)The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. ^15 (X)And the sons of Simeon were ^[k]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶ These are the names of ^(Y)the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven. ^17 (Z)The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families. ¹⁸ And ^(AA)the sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. ^19 (AB)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰ Now ^(AC)Amram took for himself ^(AD)Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him ^(AE)Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven. ^21 (AF)The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² And ^(AG)the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri. ²³ Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of ^(AH)Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him ^(AI)Nadab, Abihu, ^(AJ)Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²⁴ And ^(AK)the sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵ Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and ^(AL)she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶ These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^(AM)armies.”^{[l] 27} These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, ^(AN)to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.

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. ^(AO)Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

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

Moses Before Pharaoh

7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you ^(AQ)as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be ^(AR)your prophet. ² You ^(AS)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 ^(AT)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and ^(AU)multiply My ^(AV)signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But ^(AW)Pharaoh will not heed you, so ^(AX)that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My ^[n]armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt ^(AY)by great judgments. ⁵ And the Egyptians ^(AZ)shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(BA)stretch out My hand on Egypt and ^(BB)bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

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

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod^(BF)

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ^(BG)‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ^(BH)‘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 ^(BI)as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it ^(BJ)became a serpent.

¹¹ But Pharaoh also ^(BK)called the wise men and ^(BL)the ^[o]sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also ^(BM)did in like manner with their ^[p]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: ^(BN)“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 ^(BO)water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and ^(BP)the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. ¹⁶ And you shall say to him, ^(BQ)‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, ^(BR)that they may ^[q]serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord: “By this ^(BS)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 ^(BT)they shall be turned ^(BU)to blood. ¹⁸ And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will ^(BV)loathe^[r] to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”

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

^22 (CA)Then the magicians of Egypt did ^(CB)so with their ^[s]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, ^(CC)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 Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

²¹ Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ^(A)Up to seven times?”

²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, ^(B)up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. ²³ Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded ^(C)that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. ²⁶ The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ ²⁷ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

²⁸ “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down ^[a]at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you ^[b]all.’ ³⁰ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. ³¹ So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. ³² Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you ^(D)all that debt because you begged me. ³³ Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ ³⁴ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

^35 (E)“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother ^[c]his trespasses.”

Marriage and Divorce^(F)

19 Now it came to pass, ^(G)when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. ^2 (H)And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.

³ The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

⁴ And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who ^[d]made them at the beginning ^(I)‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ^(J)‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and ^(K)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

⁷ They said to Him, ^(L)“Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

⁸ He said to them, “Moses, because of the ^(M)hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your ^(N)wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ^9 (O)And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for ^[e]sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

¹⁰ His disciples said to Him, ^(P)“If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

Jesus Teaches on Celibacy

¹¹ But He said to them, ^(Q)“All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: ¹² For there are ^[f]eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and ^(R)there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”

The Lord the Shepherd of His People

A Psalm of David.