Old/New Testament
7 Yahweh answered Moses, “I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron is your prophet. 2 Tell your brother Aaron everything I command you, and he must tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave the country. 3 But I will make Pharaoh stubborn. Even though I will do many miraculous signs and amazing things in Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will use my power to punish Egypt severely, and I will bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt in organized family groups. 5 The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I use my power against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of there.”
6 Moses and Aaron did as Yahweh had commanded them. 7 Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when they talked to Pharaoh.
8 Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Give me a sign to prove that God has sent you,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your shepherd’s staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh,’ and it will become a large snake.”
10 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as Yahweh had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a large snake. 11 Then Pharaoh sent for his wise men and sorcerers. These Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic spells. 12 Each of them threw his staff down, and they all became large snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed theirs. 13 Yet, Pharaoh continued to be stubborn and would not listen to them, as Yahweh had predicted.
The First Plague—The Nile River Turns into Blood
14 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh is being stubborn. He refuses to let my people go. 15 In the morning meet Pharaoh when he’s on his way to the Nile. Wait for him on the bank of the river. Take along the staff that turned into a snake. 16 Say to him, ‘Yahweh Elohim of the Hebrews sent me to tell you, “Let my people go to worship me in the desert.” So far you have not listened. 17 Here is what Yahweh says: This is the way you will recognize that I am Yahweh: With this staff in my hand, I’m going to strike the Nile, and the water will turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’”
19 Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—its rivers, canals, ponds, and all its reservoirs—so that they turn into blood. There will be blood everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden and stone containers.’”
20 Moses and Aaron did as Yahweh had commanded. In front of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised his staff and struck the Nile. All the water in the river turned into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and it smelled so bad that the Egyptians couldn’t drink any water from the river. There was blood everywhere in Egypt.
22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic spells. So Pharaoh continued to be stubborn and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, as Yahweh had predicted. 23 Pharaoh turned and went back to his palace. He dismissed the entire matter from his mind.
24 All the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink because they couldn’t drink any of the water from the river.
25 Seven days passed after Yahweh struck the Nile.
The Second Plague—Frogs
8 [a]Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Let my people go to worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I will bring a plague of frogs on your whole country. 3 The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come into your palace, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your officials, on your people, into your ovens and into your mixing bowls. 4 The frogs will jump on you, on your people, and on all your officials.’”
5 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Hold your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds. This will bring frogs onto the land.’”
6 So Aaron held his staff over the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 But the magicians did the same thing using their magic spells and brought frogs onto the land.
8 Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray that Yahweh will take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh.”
9 Moses answered Pharaoh, “You may have the honor of choosing when I should pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then the frogs will leave you and your homes. The only ones left will be those in the Nile.”
10 “Pray for me tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
Moses replied, “It will be as you say so that you will know that there is no one like Yahweh our Elohim. 11 The frogs will leave you, your homes, your officials, and your people. The only frogs left will be those in the Nile.”
12 After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses prayed to Yahweh about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. 13 Yahweh did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards, and in the fields. 14 They were piled into countless heaps, and the land began to stink because of them.
15 When Pharaoh saw that the plague was over, he became stubborn and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, as Yahweh had predicted.
The Third Plague—Gnats
16 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Hold out your staff and strike the dust on the ground. All over Egypt the dust will turn into gnats.’”
17 When Moses told him, Aaron held out the staff in his hand and struck the dust on the ground. It turned into gnats that bit people and animals. All the dust on the ground everywhere in Egypt turned into gnats.
18 The magicians also tried to produce gnats using their magic spells, but they couldn’t do it. The gnats bit people and animals. 19 So the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the hand of Elohim!”
Yet, Pharaoh continued to be stubborn and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, as Yahweh had predicted.
The Fourth Plague—Flies
20 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Early in the morning, stand in Pharaoh’s way when he’s going to the Nile. Say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Let my people go to worship me. 21 If you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The homes of the Egyptians will be filled with flies, and even the ground outside will be covered with them. 22 But on that day I will treat the region of Goshen differently. That is where my people live. There won’t be any flies there. This way you will know that I, Yahweh, am here in this land. 23 I will distinguish between my people and yours. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow.’”
24 Yahweh did what he said. Dense swarms of flies came into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials. All over Egypt the flies were ruining everything. 25 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your Elohim here in this country.”
26 Moses replied, “It wouldn’t be right to do that. The sacrifices we offer to Yahweh our Elohim are disgusting to Egyptians. If they see us offer sacrifices that they consider disgusting, won’t they stone us to death? 27 We need to travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to Yahweh our Elohim, as he told us to do.”
28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, but don’t go very far. You may offer sacrifices to Yahweh your Elohim in the desert and pray for me.”
29 Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to Yahweh. Tomorrow the swarms of flies will go away from you, your officials, and your people. But you must stop tricking us by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to Yahweh.”
30 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to Yahweh. 31 Yahweh did what Moses asked. The swarms of flies left Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not one fly was left. 32 Yet, this time, too, Pharaoh was stubborn and did not let the people go.
Jesus Challenges the Pharisees’ Traditions(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and experts in Moses’ Teachings came from Jerusalem to Yeshua. They asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the traditions of our ancestors? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”
3 He answered them, “Why do you break the commandment of God because of your traditions? 4 For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say that whoever tells his father or mother, ‘I have given to God whatever support you might have received from me,’ 6 does not have to honor his father. Because of your traditions you have destroyed the authority of God’s word. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 Their worship of me is pointless,
because their teachings are rules made by humans.’”
10 Then he called the crowd and said to them, “Listen and try to understand! 11 What goes into a person’s mouth doesn’t make him unclean.[a] It’s what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.”
12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you realize that when the Pharisees heard your statement they were offended?”
13 He answered, “Any plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone! They are blind leaders. When one blind person leads another, both will fall into the same pit.”
15 Peter said to him, “Explain this illustration to us.”
16 Yeshua said, “Don’t you understand yet? 17 Don’t you know that whatever goes into the mouth goes into the stomach and then into a toilet? 18 But whatever goes out of the mouth comes from within, and that’s what makes a person unclean. 19 Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, other sexual sins, stealing, lying, and cursing come from within. 20 These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating without washing one’s hands doesn’t make a person unclean.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.