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, ^(A)that they may serve Me. ² But if you ^(B)refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with ^(C)frogs. ³ So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your ^(D)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, ^(E)‘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 ^(F)the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ^7 (G)And the magicians did so with their ^[a]enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, ^(H)“Entreat^[b] the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people ^(I)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 ^(J)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 ^(K)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 ^(L)relief, ^(M)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 ^[c]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 ^(N)it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸ Now ^(O)the magicians so worked with their ^[d]enchantments to bring forth lice, but they ^(P)could not. So there were lice on man and beast. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is ^(Q)the^[e] finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s ^(R)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, ^(S)“Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(T)“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 ^(U)I will set apart the land of ^(V)Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may ^(W)know that I am the Lord in the midst of the ^(X)land. ²³ I will ^[f]make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this ^(Y)sign shall be.” ’ ” ²⁴ And the Lord did so. ^(Z)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 ^(AA)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 ^[g]stone us? ²⁷ We will go ^(AB)three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as ^(AC)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. ^(AD)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 ^(AE)deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

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

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

1 The ^(B)beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(C)the Son of God. ² As it is written in ^[a]the Prophets:

^4 (F)John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance ^[b]for the remission of sins. ^5 (G)Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

⁶ Now John was ^(H)clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he preached, saying, ^(I)“There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. ^8 (J)I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you ^(K)with the Holy Spirit.”

John Baptizes Jesus^(L)

^9 (M)It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ^10 (N)And immediately, coming up ^[c]from the water, He saw the heavens ^[d]parting and the Spirit ^(O)descending upon Him like a dove. ¹¹ Then a voice came from heaven, ^(P)“You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Satan Tempts Jesus^(Q)

^12 (R)Immediately the Spirit ^[e]drove Him into the wilderness. ¹³ And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; ^(S)and the angels ministered to Him.

Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry^(T)

^14 (U)Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, ^(V)preaching the gospel ^[f]of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ and saying, ^(W)“The time is fulfilled, and ^(X)the kingdom of God ^[g]is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Four Fishermen Called as Disciples^(Y)

^16 (Z)And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become ^(AA)fishers of men.” ^18 (AB)They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

¹⁹ When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. ²⁰ And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.

Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit^(AC)

^21 (AD)Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the ^(AE)synagogue and taught. ^22 (AF)And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

²³ Now there was a man in their synagogue with an ^(AG)unclean spirit. And he cried out, ²⁴ saying, “Let us alone! ^(AH)What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I ^(AI)know who You are—the ^(AJ)Holy One of God!”

²⁵ But Jesus ^(AK)rebuked him, saying, ^[h]“Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And when the unclean spirit ^(AL)had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. ²⁷ Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ^[i]“What is this? What new ^[j]doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ And immediately His ^(AM)fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.