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22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O my Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me?(A) 23 Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people.”(B)
Israel’s Deliverance Assured
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh: indeed, by a mighty hand he will let them go; by a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.”(C)
2 God also spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty,[a] but by my name ‘The Lord’[b] I did not make myself known to them.(D) 4 I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens.(E) 5 I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have remembered my covenant.(F) 6 Say therefore to the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.(G) 7 I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians.(H) 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.”(I) 9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.
10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 11 “Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.” 12 But Moses spoke to the Lord, “The Israelites have not listened to me; why should Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?”[c] 13 Thus the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them orders regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to free the Israelites from the land of Egypt.
The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron
14 The following are the heads of their ancestral houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.(J) 15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.(K) 16 The following are the names of the sons of Levi according to their genealogies: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and the length of Levi’s life was one hundred thirty-seven years.(L) 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their families.(M) 18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, and the length of Kohath’s life was one hundred thirty-three years.(N) 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their genealogies.(O) 20 Amram married Jochebed his aunt, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, and the length of Amram’s life was one hundred thirty-seven years.(P) 21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.(Q) 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.(R) 23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.(S) 25 Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the ancestral houses of the Levites by their families.(T)
26 It was this same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, company by company.” 27 It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, the same Moses and Aaron.
Moses and Aaron Obey God’s Commands
28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord said to Moses, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am speaking to you.”(U) 30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I am a poor speaker,[d] why should Pharaoh listen to me?”(V)
7 The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.(W) 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land.(X) 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.(Y) 4 When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring my people the Israelites, company by company, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.(Z) 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”(AA) 6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them.(AB) 7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.(AC)
Aaron’s Miraculous Rod
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’ ”(AD) 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.(AE) 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts.(AF) 12 Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs. 13 However, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.(AG)
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.(AH) 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake.(AI) 16 Say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let my people go, so that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But until now you have not listened.(AJ) 17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord.” See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood.(AK) 18 The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.’ ”(AL) 19 The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its canals, and its ponds, and all its pools of water—so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.”(AM)
20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile; all the water in the river was turned into blood,(AN) 21 and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt.(AO) 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.(AP) 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river.
25 Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
Forgiveness
21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven[a] times.
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him, 25 and, as he could not pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Teaching about Divorce
19 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.(A) 2 Large crowds followed him, and he cured them there.(B)
3 Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?”(C) 4 He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’(D) 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?(E) 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?”(F) 8 He said to them, “It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”[b](G)
10 The[c] disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given.(H) 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
Psalm 23
The Divine Shepherd
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.(A)
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;[a](B)
3 he restores my soul.[b]
He leads me in right paths[c]
for his name’s sake.(C)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.