The Plague of Locusts

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for ^(A)I have ^[a]hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, so that I may ^[b]perform these signs of Mine ^[c]among them, ² and ^(B)that you may tell in the ^[d]presence of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I ^[e]performed My signs among them, ^(C)so that you may know that I am the Lord.”

³ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews says: ‘How long will you refuse to ^(D)humble yourself before Me? ^(E)Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. ⁴ For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. ⁵ And they will cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. ^(F)They will also eat the rest of what has survived—what is left to you from the hail—and they will eat every tree of yours which grows ^[f]in the field. ⁶ Then ^(G)your houses will be filled with them, ^[g]together with the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they ^[h]came upon the earth until this day.’” And he turned and left Pharaoh. ⁷ Then ^(H)Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be ^(I)a snare to us? Let the ^[i]people go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet ^[j]realize that Egypt is destroyed?” ⁸ So Moses and Aaron ^(J)were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “^(K)Go, serve the Lord your God! ^[k]Who specifically are the ones who are going?” ⁹ Moses said, “^(L)We shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, ^(M)with our flocks and our herds we shall go, for we ^[l]must hold a feast to the Lord.” ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “So may the Lord be with you, when I let you and your little ones go! Watch out, for evil is ^[m]on your mind! ¹¹ Not so! Go now, but only the men among you, and serve the Lord, since ^[n]that is what you desire.” So ^(N)they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(O)Reach out with your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up on the land of Egypt and ^(P)eat every plant of the land, everything that the hail has left.” ¹³ So Moses reached out with his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind ^[o]brought the ^(Q)locusts. ^14 (R)The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled in all the territory of Egypt; they were very ^[p]numerous. There had never been so many ^[q]locusts, nor would there be so many ^[r]again. ¹⁵ For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened; and they ^(S)ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Therefore nothing green was left on tree or plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ Then Pharaoh hurriedly ^(T)called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “^(U)I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ So now, please forgive my sin only this once, and ^(V)plead with the Lord your God, that He would only remove this death from me.” ¹⁸ Then ^(W)he left Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. ¹⁹ So the Lord shifted the wind to a very strong west wind, which picked up the locusts and drove them into the ^[s]Red Sea; not one locust was left in all the territory of Egypt. ²⁰ But ^(X)the Lord ^[t]hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go.

Darkness over the Land

²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(Y)Reach out with your hand toward the sky, so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness ^(Z)which may be felt.” ²² So Moses reached out with his hand toward the sky, and there was ^(AA)thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³ They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, ^(AB)but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. ²⁴ Then Pharaoh ^(AC)called for Moses, and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be left behind. Even ^(AD)your little ones may go with you.” ²⁵ But Moses said, “You must also ^[u]let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may ^[v]sacrifice them to the Lord our God. ^26 (AE)Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the Lord our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the Lord.” ²⁷ But ^(AF)the Lord ^[w]hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. ²⁸ Then Pharaoh said to him, “^(AG)Get away from me! ^[x]Be careful, do not see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you shall die!” ²⁹ Moses said, “You have spoken correctly; ^(AH)I shall never see your face again!”

The Last Plague

11 Now the Lord said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; ^(AI)after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will assuredly drive you out from here completely. ² Speak now ^[y]so that the people hear, that ^(AJ)each man is to ask of his neighbor, and each woman of her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.” ³ And ^(AK)the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. ^(AL)Furthermore, the man Moses himself was ^[z]greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

⁴ Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About ^(AM)midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and ^(AN)all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well. ⁶ So there shall be ^(AO)a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again. ^7 (AP)But not even a dog will ^[aa]threaten any of the sons of Israel, nor anything from person to animal, so that you may ^[ab]learn how the Lord distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.’ ⁸ And ^(AQ)all these servants of yours will come down to me and bow themselves ^[ac]before me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who ^[ad]follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” ^(AR)And he left Pharaoh in the heat of anger.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^(AS)Pharaoh will not listen to you, so ^(AT)that My wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So ^(AU)Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet ^(AV)the Lord ^[ae]hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

The Passover Lamb

12 Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of ^[af]Egypt, ² “^(AW)This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. ³ Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are, each one, to take a ^[ag]lamb for themselves, according to the fathers’ households, a ^[ah]lamb for ^[ai]each household. ⁴ Now if the household is too small for a ^[aj]lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the ^[ak]number of persons in them; in proportion to ^[al]what each one should eat, you are to ^[am]divide the lamb. ⁵ Your ^[an]lamb shall be ^(AX)an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ^6 [ao]You shall keep it until the ^(AY)fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it ^[ap](AZ)at twilight. ^7 (BA)Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel ^[aq]of the houses in which they eat it. ⁸ They shall eat the flesh ^(BB)that same night, ^(BC)roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with ^(BD)unleavened bread ^[ar](BE)and bitter herbs. ⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather ^(BF)roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with ^(BG)its entrails. ^10 (BH)And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire. ¹¹ Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment ^[as]belted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is ^(BI)the Lord’s Passover. ¹² For ^(BJ)I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and ^(BK)against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—^(BL)I am the Lord. ^13 (BM)The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you ^[at]live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you ^[au]to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For ^(A)the kingdom of heaven is like ^[a]a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his ^(B)vineyard. ² When he had agreed with the laborers for a ^[b]denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the ^[c]third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace; ⁴ and to those he said, ‘You go into the vineyard also, and whatever is right, I will give you.’ And so they went. ⁵ Again he went out about the ^[d]sixth and the ninth hour, and did ^[e]the same thing. ⁶ And about the ^[f]eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ ⁷ They *said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He *said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸ “Now when ^(C)evening came, the ^[g]owner of the vineyard *said to his ^(D)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, starting with the last group to the first.’ ⁹ When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a ^[h]denarius. ¹⁰ And so when those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; ^[i]but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, ¹² saying, ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day’s work and the ^(E)scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he answered and said to one of them, ‘^(F)Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what is yours and go; but I want to give to this last person the same as to you. ¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is my own? Or is your ^(G)eye ^[j]envious because I am ^[k]generous?’ ¹⁶ So ^(H)the last shall be first, and the first, last.”

Death, Resurrection Foretold

^17 (I)As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the road He said to them, ¹⁸ “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man ^(J)will be ^[l]handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, ¹⁹ and they ^(K)will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and flog and crucify, and on ^(L)the third day He will be raised up.”

Request for Preferred Treatment

^20 (M)Then the mother of ^(N)the ^[m]sons of Zebedee came to ^[n]Jesus with her sons, ^(O)bowing down and making a request of Him. ²¹ And He said to her, “What do you desire?” She *said to Him, “Say that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine ^(P)shall sit, one at Your right, and one at Your left.” ²² But Jesus replied, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(Q)to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They *said to Him, “We are able.” ²³ He *said to them, “^(R)My cup you shall drink; but to sit at My right and at My left is not Mine to give, ^(S)but it is for those for whom it has been ^(T)prepared by My Father.”

²⁴ And after hearing this, the other ten disciples became indignant with the two brothers. ^25 (U)But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them, and ^[o]those in high position exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It ^[p]is not this way among you, ^(V)but whoever wants to become ^[q]prominent among you shall be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever desires to be first among you shall be your slave; ²⁸ just as ^(W)the Son of Man ^(X)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[r]life as a ransom for many.”

Prayer for Protection, Guidance, and Pardon.

A Psalm of David.