Old/New Testament
God Appoints Aaron to Assist Moses
7 The Lord told Moses, “Listen! I’ve positioned you as God[a] to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2 You are to speak everything that I’ve commanded you, and then your brother Aaron will speak to Pharaoh, telling him to let the Israelis go out of his land. 3 I’ll harden Pharaoh’s heart and I’ll add more and more of my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 When Pharaoh won’t listen to you, I’ll let loose my power[b] upon Egypt. I’ll bring out my tribal divisions—my people the Israelis—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment.[c] 5 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand over Egypt to bring the Israelis out from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did what the Lord commanded them. 7 Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Moses’ Staff Becomes a Snake
8 Then the Lord told Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miraculous sign,’ then you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it in front of Pharaoh.’ It will become a serpent.”
10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw his staff in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and sorcerers, and they—along with the Egyptian magicians—did the same thing with their secret arts. 12 So each one threw down his staff and it became a serpent, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn[d] and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said would happen.
Water is Turned into Blood
14 Then the Lord told Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard. He has refused to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he’s going down to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile River[e] and meet him. Be sure to take with you[f] the staff that was turned into a snake. 16 Then say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you. He says, “Let my people go so they may serve[g] me in the desert, but until now you haven’t obeyed.”’[h]
17 “‘This is what the Lord says: “This is how you’ll know that I am the Lord: Right now I’m going to strike the water of the Nile River[i] with the staff that’s in my hand, and it will be turned to blood. 18 The fish in the Nile River[j] will die and the river[k] will stink. The Egyptians will be unable[l] to drink water from the Nile River.[m]”’”
19 The Lord also told Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their Nile River[n], over their ponds, and over their reservoirs,[o] and they’ll become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in their[p] wood and stone containers.’”[q]
20 Moses and Aaron did just what the Lord had commanded. Aaron[r] raised his staff and struck the water in the Nile River[s] in front of[t] Pharaoh and his[u] officials,[v] and all the water in the Nile River[w] turned to blood. 21 The fish in the Nile River[x] died and the river[y] stank. The Egyptians were not able to drink water from the Nile River,[z] and blood was throughout the land of Egypt. 22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing[aa] with their secret arts. Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn,[ab] and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. 23 Then Pharaoh turned away, went to his palace, and paid no attention to any of this. 24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile River[ac] for water to drink because they could not drink from the water in the Nile River.[ad]
The Plague of Frogs
25 Seven days after[ae] the Lord had struck the Nile River,[af] 8 1 [ag]he told Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Let my people go so they may serve[ah] me. 2 And if you refuse to let them go, then I’m going to strike all your territory with frogs. 3 The Nile will swarm with frogs. They’ll come up and enter your house, your bedroom, your bed, and your servants’ houses. They’ll jump on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. 4 The frogs will be all over you and your servants.”’”
5 [ai]Then the Lord told Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the Nile River,[aj] and over the ponds, and bring up frogs over the land of Egypt.’” 6 So Aaron stretched his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 But the magicians did the same thing[ak] with their secret arts, and they brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord so that he may remove the frogs from me and my people. I’ll let the people go so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
9 Moses told Pharaoh, “You decide[al] when I should plead for you, your servants, and your people to remove[am] the frogs from you and your household. They’ll remain only in the Nile River.[an]”
10 Pharaoh[ao] said, “Tomorrow.”
Moses[ap] said, “It will be just as you say,[aq] so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will leave you, your house, your officials,[ar] and your people. They’ll remain only in the Nile River.[as]”
12 Then Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s presence, and Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs which he had sent[at] on Pharaoh. 13 The Lord did just as Moses asked,[au] and the frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards, and in the fields. 14 They gathered them up into large piles and the land smelled terrible. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
The Plague of Gnats
16 Then the Lord told Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff, strike the dust of the ground, and the dust[av] will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’” 17 They did this.[aw] Aaron stretched his hand out with his staff, struck the dust of the land, and gnats came on people and animals—all the dust of the ground became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried[ax] to do the same thing[ay] with their secret arts, but they were unable to bring out the gnats. The gnats were on the people and the animals.
19 The magicians told Pharaoh, “It is the finger of God!”[az] But Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn[ba] and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
20 The Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he’s going down to the water. You are to say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Let my people go so they can serve[bb] me. 21 But if you don’t let my people go, I’ll send swarms of insects upon you, your servants, your people, and your households. The houses of Egypt—and even the ground on which they stand—will be filled with swarms of insects. 22 On that day I’ll treat the land of Goshen where my people live[bc] differently so that swarms of insects won’t be there. As a result, you will know that I the Lord am in the midst of the land. 23 I’ll make a distinction between my people and your people, and this sign will occur tomorrow.”’”
24 The Lord did this, and dense swarms of insects came into the house of Pharaoh and into the houses of his servants. The land was ruined throughout[bd] Egypt because of the swarms of insects. 25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, offer sacrifices to your God in the land.”
26 “It wouldn’t be right to sacrifice in this way,”[be] Moses replied, “because if we do,[bf] we will sacrifice to the Lord our God what is offensive to the Egyptians.[bg] If we offer sacrifices that are offensive to the Egyptians[bh] in front of them, they’ll stone us, won’t they? 27 We must go a three-day journey into the desert, and we’ll offer sacrifices to the Lord our God just as he has told us.”
28 Then Pharaoh said, “I’ll let you go so you can offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert. But you must not go very far away. Pray for me.”
29 Moses said, “Right now I’m going to leave you, and I’ll pray to the Lord that the swarms of insects may depart from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people tomorrow. But Pharaoh, don’t continue lying by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
30 Then Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and prayed to the Lord. 31 The Lord did what Moses asked,[bi] and the swarms of insects departed from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not one remained. 32 But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart, and he did not let the people go.
Jesus Challenges the Tradition of the Elders(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples disregard the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands when they eat.”[a]
3 But he answered them, “Why do you also disregard the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 Because God said,[b] ‘You are to honor your father and your mother,’[c] and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother must certainly be put to death.’[d] 5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or his mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me has been given to God,”[e] 6 does not have to honor his father.’[f] Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded[g] the authority of God’s word.[h] 7 You hypocrites! How well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said,
8 ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 Their worship of me is empty,
because they teach human rules as doctrines.’”[i]
10 Then calling out to the crowd, he addressed them, “Listen and understand! 11 It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.”
12 Then the disciples came and asked him, “Do you realize that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind.[j] If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”
15 Then Peter told him, “Explain to us this[k] parable.”
16 Jesus[l] said, “Are you still so ignorant? 17 Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is expelled as waste? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is those things that make a person unclean. 19 It is out of the heart that evil thoughts come, as well as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, stealing, false testimony, and slander.[m] 20 These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands doesn’t make a person unclean.”
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