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Miraculous Signs for Moses
4 Then Moses answered, “What if they won’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear(A) to you’?”
2 The Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it, 4 but the Lord told him, “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. 5 “This will take place,” He continued, “so they will believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”(B)
6 In addition the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, white as snow.[a](C) 7 Then He said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” He put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out,[b] it had again become like the rest of his skin.(D) 8 “If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. 9 And if they don’t believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”(E)
10 But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant[c]—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.”[d](F)
11 Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?(G) 12 Now go! I will help[e] you speak and I will teach you what to say.”(H)
13 Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”[f]
14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and He said, “Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you. 15 You will speak with him and tell him what to say.(I) I will help[g] both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will serve as God to him. 17 And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.”(J)
Moses’ Return to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still living.”
Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
19 Now in Midian the Lord told Moses, “Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”(K) 20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took God’s staff(L) in his hand.
21 The Lord instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart[h](M) so that he won’t let the people go. 22 Then you will say to Pharaoh: This is what Yahweh says: Israel is My firstborn son.(N) 23 I told you: Let My son go so that he may worship Me, but you refused to let him go. Now I will kill your firstborn son!”(O)
24 On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and sought to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, and threw it at Moses’ feet.[i] Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!”(P) 26 So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision.[j]
Reunion of Moses and Aaron
27 Now the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.(Q) 28 Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and about all the signs He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. 30 Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. 31 The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention(R) to them and that He had seen their misery,(S) they bowed down and worshiped.
Moses Confronts Pharaoh
5 Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival for Me in the wilderness.”(T)
2 But Pharaoh responded, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey Him by letting Israel go? I do not know anything about Yahweh, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”(U)
3 Then they answered, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, or else He may strike us with plague or sword.”
4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your work!” 5 Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from working.”(V)
Further Oppression of Israel
6 That day Pharaoh commanded the overseers(W) of the people as well as their foremen: 7 “Don’t continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers—that is why they are crying out,(X) ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words.”
10 So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says:(Y) ‘I am not giving you straw. 11 Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’” 12 So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The overseers insisted, “Finish your assigned work each day, just as you did when straw was provided.” 14 Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had set over the people, were beaten(Z) and asked, “Why haven’t you finished making your prescribed number of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?”
15 So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way? 16 No straw has been given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but it is your own people who are at fault.”
17 But he said, “You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks.”
19 The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You cannot reduce your daily quota of bricks.” 20 When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them.
21 “May the Lord take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek in front of Pharaoh and his officials—putting a sword in their hand to kill us!”(AA)
Who Is the Greatest?
18 At that time[a](A) the disciples(B) came to Jesus and said, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”(C)
2 Then He called a child to Him and had him stand among them. 3 “I assure you,” He said, “unless you are converted[b] and become like children,(D) you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.(E) 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes[c] one child like this in My name welcomes Me.
6 “But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone[d] were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea!(F) 7 Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes.(G) 8 If your hand or your foot causes your downfall, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.(H) 9 And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, rather than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10 “See that you don’t look down on one of these little ones,(J) because I tell you that in heaven their angels(K) continually view the face of My Father in heaven.(L) [11 For the Son of Man(M) has come to save the lost.][f] 12 What do you think?(N) If a man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray?(O) 13 And if he finds it, I assure you: He rejoices over that sheep[g] more than over the 99 that did not go astray. 14 In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
Restoring a Brother
15 “If your brother sins against you,[h] go and rebuke him in private.[i] If he listens to you, you have won your brother.(P) 16 But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony[j] of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.(Q)[k] 17 If he pays no attention to them, tell the church.[l](R) But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever[m] and a tax collector to you.(S) 18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound[n] in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed[o] in heaven.(T) 19 Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you[p] pray for, it will be done for you[q] by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”
19 But You, Lord, don’t be far away.(A)
My strength, come quickly to help me.(B)
20 Deliver my life from the sword,(C)
my only life[a] from the power of these dogs.
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!(D)
You have rescued[b] me
from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will proclaim Your name to my brothers;
I will praise You in the congregation.(E)
23 You who fear Yahweh, praise Him!(F)
All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him!
All you descendants of Israel, revere Him!(G)
24 For He has not despised or detested
the torment of the afflicted.(H)
He did not hide His face from him(I)
but listened when he cried to Him for help.(J)
25 I will give praise[c] in the great congregation
because of You;(K)
I will fulfill my vows
before those who fear You.[d](L)
26 The humble[e] will eat and be satisfied;(M)
those who seek the Lord will praise Him.
May your hearts live forever!(N)
27 All the ends of the earth will remember
and turn to the Lord.
All the families of the nations
will bow down before You,(O)
28 for kingship belongs to the Lord;
He rules over the nations.(P)
29 All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down;
all those who go down to the dust
will kneel before Him—
even the one who cannot preserve his life.(Q)
30 Their descendants will serve Him;
the next generation will be told about the Lord.(R)
31 They will come and tell a people yet to be born
about His righteousness—
what He has done.(S)
Enjoy Marriage
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
water flowing from your own well.(A)
16 Should your springs flow in the streets,
streams of water in the public squares?(B)
17 They should be for you alone
and not for you to share with strangers.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.(C)
19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn—
let her breasts always satisfy you;(D)
be lost in her love forever.
20 Why, my son, would you be infatuated
with a forbidden woman
or embrace the breast of a stranger?(E)
21 For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,(F)
and He considers all his paths.(G)
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