Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt
1 aThese are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the descendants of Jacob were bseventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then cJoseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 dBut the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
Pharaoh Oppresses Israel
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ewho did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, fthe people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 gCome, hlet us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them ito afflict them with heavy jburdens. They built for Pharaoh kstore cities, Pithom and lRaamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel mwork as slaves 14 and nmade their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives ofeared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 pSo God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, qhe gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, r“Every son that is born to the Hebrews1 you shall cast into sthe Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
Teach Me Your Paths
1 Of David.
1 To you, O Lord, I olift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I ptrust;
qlet me not be put to shame;
rlet not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, snone who wait for you shall be put to shame;
4 vMake me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your wtruth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
6 Remember your xmercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
yfor they have been from of old.
7 Remember not zthe sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your asteadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
8 bGood and upright is the Lord;
therefore he cinstructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are dsteadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For your ename’s sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is fgreat.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him cwill he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall gabide in well-being,
and his hoffspring ishall inherit the land.
14 jThe friendship2 of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My keyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he will lpluck my feet out of the net.
16 mTurn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
18 nConsider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
oLet me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
22 pRedeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.
The Parable of the Sower
1 Again vhe began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, wso that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And xhe was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! yBehold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And zwhen the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, ait withered away. 7 Other seed fell among bthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ca hundredfold.” 9 And he said, d“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The Purpose of the Parables
10 And ewhen he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, f“To you has been given gthe secret of the kingdom of God, but for hthose outside everything is in parables, 12 iso that
“‘they jmay indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they kshould turn and be forgiven.’”
13 lAnd he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 mThe sower sows nthe word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it owith joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but pendure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately qthey fall away.1 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but rthe cares of sthe world and tthe deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and ubear fruit, vthirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
A Lamp Under a Basket
21 wAnd he said to them, x“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 yFor nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 zIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: awith the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 bFor to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
The Parable of the Seed Growing
26 And he said, c“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; dhe knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once ehe puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 fAnd he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like ga grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
33 hWith many such parables he spoke ithe word to them, jas they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them kwithout a parable, but lprivately to his own disciples he mexplained everything.
Jesus Calms a Storm
35 nOn that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves owere breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and prebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and qthere was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you rso afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, s“Who then is this, that even tthe wind and the sea obey him?”
