Old/New Testament

7 The Lord said to Moses, “See how important I have made you? In speaking to Pharaoh, you will be like God, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ² You will tell Aaron everything that I command you. Then he will tell the king what I say. And Pharaoh will let the Israelites leave this country. ³ But I will make Pharaoh stubborn so that he will not do what you tell him. Then I will do many miracles in Egypt to prove who I am. ⁴ But he will still refuse to listen. So then I will punish Egypt very much. And I will lead my army, my people, out of that land. ⁵ I will punish the people of Egypt, and they will learn that I am the Lord. Then I will lead my people out of their country.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did what the Lord told them. ⁷ Moses was 80 years old at the time, and Aaron was 83.

Moses’ Walking Stick Becomes a Snake

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “Pharaoh will ask you to prove your power. He will ask you to do a miracle. Tell Aaron to throw his walking stick on the ground. While Pharaoh is watching, the stick will become a snake.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and obeyed the Lord. Aaron threw his walking stick down. While Pharaoh and his officers watched, the stick became a snake.

¹¹ So Pharaoh called for his wise men and magicians. These men used their magic, and they were able to do the same thing as Aaron. ¹² They threw their walking sticks on the ground, and their sticks became snakes. But then Aaron’s walking stick ate theirs. ¹³ Pharaoh still refused to let the people go, just as the Lord had said. Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.

The Water Becomes Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh is being stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ In the morning Pharaoh will go out to the river. Go to him by the edge of the Nile River. Take the walking stick that became a snake. ¹⁶ Tell him this: ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you. He told me to tell you to let his people go worship him in the desert. Until now you have not listened to the Lord. ¹⁷ So the Lord says that he will do something to show you that he is the Lord. I will hit the water of the Nile River with this walking stick in my hand, and the river will turn into blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the river will die, and the river will begin to stink. Then the Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the river.’”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron to hold the walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals, lakes, and every place where they store water. When he does this, all the water will turn into blood. All the water, even the water stored in wood and stone jars, will turn into blood.”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did what the Lord commanded. Aaron raised the walking stick and hit the water in the Nile River. He did this in front of Pharaoh and his officials. So all the water in the river changed into blood. ²¹ The fish in the river died, and the river began to stink. So the Egyptians could not drink water from the river. The blood was everywhere in Egypt.

²² The magicians used their magic to do the same thing. So Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. This happened just as the Lord said. ²³ Pharaoh ignored what Moses and Aaron had done. He turned and went into his house.

²⁴ The Egyptians could not drink the water from the river, so they dug wells around the river for water to drink.

The Frogs

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord changed the Nile River.

8 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that the Lord says, ‘Let my people go to worship me! ² If you refuse to let my people go, then I will fill Egypt with frogs. ³ The Nile River will be filled with frogs. They will come from the river and enter your houses. They will be in your bedrooms and in your beds. They will be in the houses of your officials and in your ovens and in your jars of water. ⁴ The frogs will be all over you, your people, and your officials.’”

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to hold the walking stick in his hand over the canals, rivers, and lakes. Then the frogs will come out onto the land of Egypt.”

⁶ So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs began coming out of the water and covered the land of Egypt.

⁷ The magicians used their magic to do the same thing—so even more frogs came out onto the land in Egypt!

⁸ Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Ask the Lord to remove the frogs from me and my people. I will let the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “I will pray for you, your people, and your officials. Then the frogs will leave you and your houses. They will remain only in the river. When do you want the frogs to go away?”

¹⁰ Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.”

Moses said, “It will happen as you say. In this way you will know that there is no god like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you, your house, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the river.”

¹² Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh. Moses prayed to the Lord about the frogs he had sent against Pharaoh. ¹³ And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards, and in the fields. ¹⁴ They began to rot, and the whole country began to stink. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that they were free of the frogs, he again became stubborn. Pharaoh did not do what Moses and Aaron had asked him to do. This happened just as the Lord had said.

The Lice

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to raise his stick and hit the dust on the ground, and everywhere in Egypt dust will become lice.”

¹⁷ They did this. Aaron raised the stick in his hand and hit the dust on the ground, and everywhere in Egypt the dust became lice. The lice got on the animals and the people.

¹⁸ The magicians used their magic and tried to do the same thing. But the magicians could not make lice come from the dust. The lice remained on the animals and the people. ¹⁹ So the magicians told Pharaoh that the power of God did this. But Pharaoh refused to listen to them. This happened just as the Lord had said.

The Flies

²⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Get up in the morning and go to Pharaoh. He will go out to the river. Tell him that the Lord says, ‘Let my people go and worship me! ²¹ If you don’t let my people go, then flies will come into your houses. The flies will be on you and your officials. The houses of Egypt will be full of flies. They will be all over the ground too! ²² But I will not treat the Israelites the same as the Egyptians. There will not be any flies in Goshen, where my people live. In this way you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. ²³ So tomorrow I will treat my people differently from your people. This will be my proof.’”

²⁴ So the Lord did just what he said. Millions of flies came into Egypt. The flies were in Pharaoh’s house, and they were in all his officials’ houses. They were all over Egypt. The flies were ruining the country. ²⁵ So Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”

²⁶ But Moses said, “It would not be right to do that. The Egyptians think it is terrible to kill animals as sacrifices for the Lord our God. If we do this here, the Egyptians will see us and throw stones at us and kill us. ²⁷ Let us go three days into the desert and offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. This is what he told us to do.”

²⁸ So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go and offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now, go and pray for me.”

²⁹ Moses said, “Look, I will leave and ask the Lord to remove the flies from you, your people, and your officials tomorrow. But you must not stop the people from offering sacrifices to the Lord.”

³⁰ So Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ³¹ And the Lord did what Moses asked. He removed the flies from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. None of the flies remained. ³² But Pharaoh again became stubborn and did not let the people go.

God’s Law and Human Traditions^(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus. They came from Jerusalem and asked him, ² “Why do your followers not obey the traditions we have from our great leaders who lived long ago? Your followers don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

³ Jesus answered, “And why do you refuse to obey God’s command so that you can follow those traditions you have? ⁴ God said, ‘You must respect your father and mother.’^[a] And God also said, ‘Whoever says anything bad to their father or mother must be killed.’^{[b] 5} But you teach that a person can say to their father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it for you. I will give it to God.’ ⁶ You are teaching them not to respect their father. So you are teaching that it is not important to do what God said. You think it is more important to follow those traditions you have. ⁷ You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he spoke for God about you:

¹⁰ Jesus called the people to him. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. ¹¹ It is not what people put in their mouth that makes them wrong.^[c] It is what comes out of their mouth that makes them wrong.”

¹² Then the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are upset about what you said?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Stay away from the Pharisees. They lead the people, but they are like blind men leading other blind men. And if a blind man leads another blind man, both of them will fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain to us what you said earlier to the people.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Do you still have trouble understanding? ¹⁷ Surely you know that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body. ¹⁸ But the bad things people say with their mouth come from the way they think. And that’s what can make people wrong. ¹⁹ All these bad things begin in the mind: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, lying, and insulting people. ²⁰ These are the things that make people wrong. Eating without washing their hands will never make people unacceptable to God.”