Old/New Testament
Jacob’s Family in Egypt
1 When Jacob (Israel) went to Egypt, his sons and their families went with him. Here are the names of those sons: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 Another son, Joseph, was already in Egypt. So Jacob’s whole family was with him in Egypt—70 descendants in all.
6 Later, Joseph, his brothers, and all the people of that generation died. 7 But the Israelites had many children, and their number grew until the country of Egypt was filled with them.
Trouble for the Israelites
8 Then a new king began to rule Egypt. He did not know Joseph. 9 This king said to his people, “Look at the Israelites. There are too many of them, and they are stronger than we are! 10 We must make plans to stop them from growing stronger. If there is a war, they might join our enemies, defeat us, and escape from the land!”
11 The Egyptians decided to make life hard for the Israelites, so they put slave masters over the people. These masters forced the Israelites to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses for the king. The king used these cities to store grain and other things.
12 The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work harder and harder. But the harder they worked, the more they grew and spread, and the more the Egyptians became afraid of them. 13 So the Egyptians made them work even harder.
14 They made life hard for the Israelites. They forced the Israelites to work hard at making bricks and mortar and to work hard in the fields. The Egyptians showed no mercy in all the hard work they made the Israelites do!
The Nurses Who Followed God
15 There were two Hebrew[a] nurses who helped the Israelite women give birth. They were named Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to the nurses, 16 “You will continue to help the Hebrew women give birth to their children. If a girl baby is born, let the baby live. But if the baby is a boy, you must kill him!”
17 But the nurses trusted[b] God, so they did not obey the king’s command. They let all the baby boys live.
18 The king of Egypt called for the nurses and asked them, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the baby boys live?”
19 The nurses said to the king, “The Hebrew women are much stronger than the Egyptian women. They give birth to their babies before we can go to help them.” 20-21 The nurses trusted God, so he was good to them and allowed them to have their own families.
The Hebrews continued to have more children, and they became very strong. 22 So Pharaoh gave this command to his own people: “If the Hebrew women give birth to a baby girl, let it live. But if they have a baby boy, you must throw it into the Nile River.”
Baby Moses
2 There was a man from the family of Levi who decided to marry a woman from the tribe of Levi.[c] 2 She became pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy. The mother saw how beautiful the baby was and hid him for three months. 3 She hid him for as long as she could. After three months she made a basket and covered it with tar so that it would float. Then she put the baby in the basket and put the basket in the river in the tall grass. 4 The baby’s sister stayed and watched to see what would happen to the baby.
5 Just then, Pharaoh’s daughter went to the river to bathe. She saw the basket in the tall grass. Her servants were walking beside the river, so she told one of them to go get the basket. 6 The king’s daughter opened the basket and saw a baby boy. The baby was crying and she felt sorry for him. Then she noticed that it was one of the Hebrew[d] babies.
7 The baby’s sister was still hiding. She stood and asked the king’s daughter, “Do you want me to go find a Hebrew woman who can nurse the baby and help you care for it?”
8 The king’s daughter said, “Yes, please.”
So the girl went and brought the baby’s own mother.
9 The king’s daughter said to the mother, “Take this baby and feed him for me. I’ll pay you to take care of him.”
So the woman took her baby and cared for him. 10 The baby grew, and after some time, the woman gave the baby to the king’s daughter. The king’s daughter accepted the baby as her own son. She named him Moses[e] because she had pulled him from the water.
Moses Helps His People
11 Moses grew and became a man. He saw that his own people, the Hebrews, were forced to work very hard. One day he saw an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew man. 12 Moses looked around and saw that no one was watching, so he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.
13 The next day Moses saw two Hebrew men fighting each other. He saw that one man was wrong and said to him, “Why are you hurting your neighbor?”
14 The man answered, “Did anyone say you could be our ruler and judge? Tell me, will you kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday[f]?”
Then Moses was afraid. He thought to himself, “Now everyone knows what I did.”
15 Pharaoh heard about what Moses did, so he decided to kill him. But Moses ran away from Pharaoh and went to the land of Midian.
Moses in Midian
Moses stopped near a well in Midian. 16 There was a priest there who had seven daughters. These girls came to that well to get water for their father’s sheep. They were trying to fill the water trough with water. 17 But there were some shepherds there who chased the girls away and would not let them get water. So Moses helped the girls and gave water to their animals.
18 Then they went back to their father, Reuel.[g] He asked them, “Why have you come home early today?”
19 The girls answered, “The shepherds chased us away, but an Egyptian rescued us. He got water for us and gave it to our animals.”
20 So Reuel said to his daughters, “Where is this man? Why did you leave him? Go invite him to eat with us.”
21 Moses was happy to stay with that man. Reuel let Moses marry his daughter, Zipporah. 22 Zipporah became pregnant and had a son. Moses named him Gershom[h] because Moses was a stranger in a land that was not his own.
God Decides to Help Israel
23 A long time passed and that king of Egypt died. But the Israelites were still forced to work very hard. They cried for help, and God heard them. 24 God heard their painful cries and remembered the agreement he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 God saw the troubles of the Israelites, and he knew that he would soon help them.
The Burning Bush
3 Moses’ father-in-law was named Jethro.[i] Jethro was a priest of Midian. Moses took care of Jethro’s sheep. One day Moses led the sheep to the west side of the desert. He went to a mountain called Horeb,[j] the mountain of God. 2 On that mountain, Moses saw the angel of the Lord in a burning bush.
Moses saw a bush that was burning without being destroyed. 3 So he decided to go closer to the bush and see how a bush could continue burning without being burned up.
4 The Lord saw Moses was coming to look at the bush. So he called to him from the bush. He said, “Moses, Moses!”
Moses said, “Yes, Lord.”
5 Then God said, “Don’t come any closer. Take off your sandals. You are standing on holy ground. 6 I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Moses covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt, and I have heard their cries when the Egyptians hurt them. I know about their pain. 8 Now I will go down and save my people from the Egyptians. I will take them from that land and lead them to a good land where they can be free from these troubles.[k] It is a land filled with many good things.[l] Many different people live in that land: the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 9 I have heard the cries of the Israelites, and I have seen the way the Egyptians have made life hard for them. 10 So now I am sending you to Pharaoh. Go! Lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “I am not a great man! How can I be the one to go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 God said, “You can do it because I will be with you. This will be the proof that I am sending you: After you lead the people out of Egypt, you will come and worship me on this mountain.”
13 Then Moses said to God, “But if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me,’ then the people will ask, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”
14 Then God said to Moses, “Tell them, ‘I Am Who I Am.’[m] When you go to the Israelites, tell them, ‘I Am’ sent me to you.” 15 And God said, “Tell the Israelites that you were sent by Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. This will always be my name. It is how I want the people to remember me from now on.
16 “Now go and call together the elders of the people. Tell them that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—appeared to you. Give them this message from me: ‘I have been watching over you and have seen what people in Egypt have done to you. 17 And I have decided that I will take you away from the troubles you are suffering in Egypt. I will lead you to the land that now belongs to others—the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. I will lead you to a land filled with many good things.’
18 “The elders will listen to you. And then you and the elders will go to the Pharaoh. You will tell him, ‘Yahweh[n] is the God of the Hebrews.[o] He came to us and told us to travel three days into the desert. There we must offer sacrifices to Yahweh our God.’
19 “But I know that the Pharaoh will not let you go. Only a great power will force him to let you go, 20 so I will use my great power against Egypt. I will cause amazing things to happen in that land. After I do this, he will let you go. 21 And I will cause the Egyptians to be kind to the Israelites. They will give many gifts to your people when they leave Egypt.
22 “All the Hebrew women will ask their Egyptian neighbors and the Egyptian women living in their houses for gifts. And those Egyptian women will give them gifts of silver, gold, and fine clothing. Then you will put those gifts on your children. In this way you will take away the wealth of the Egyptians.”
Herod Thinks Jesus Is John the Baptizer(A)
14 About that time, Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard what the people were saying about Jesus. 2 So he said to his servants, “This man is really John the Baptizer. He must have risen from death, and that is why he can do these miracles.”
How John the Baptizer Was Killed
3 Before this time, Herod had arrested John. He had him chained and put in prison. He arrested John because of Herodias, the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother. 4 John had told him, “It is not right for you to be married to Herodias.” 5 Herod wanted to kill him, but he was afraid of the people. They believed that John was a prophet.
6 On Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for him and his group. Herod was very pleased with her. 7 So he promised that he would give her anything she wanted. 8 Herodias told her daughter what to ask for. So she said to Herod, “Give me the head of John the Baptizer here on this plate.”
9 King Herod was very sad. But he had promised to give the daughter anything she wanted. And the people eating with Herod had heard his promise. So he ordered what she asked to be done. 10 He sent men to the prison, where they cut off John’s head. 11 And the men brought John’s head on a plate and gave it to the girl. Then she took the head to her mother, Herodias. 12 John’s followers came and got his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what happened.
Jesus Feeds More Than 5000(B)
13 When Jesus heard what happened to John, he left in a boat. He went alone to a place where no one lived. But the people heard that Jesus had left. So they left their towns and followed him. They went by land to the same place he went. 14 When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd of people. He felt sorry for them, and he healed the ones who were sick.
15 Late that afternoon, the followers came to Jesus and said, “No one lives in this place. And it is already late. Send the people away so they can go to the towns and buy food for themselves.”
16 Jesus said, “The people don’t need to go away. You give them some food to eat.”
17 The followers answered, “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish.”
18 Jesus said, “Bring the bread and the fish to me.” 19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. He looked into the sky and thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread into pieces, which he gave to the followers, and they gave the food to the people. 20 Everyone ate until they were full. When they finished eating, the followers filled twelve baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. 21 There were about 5000 men there who ate. There were also women and children who ate.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International