God Promises Deliverance

1 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with ^ea strong hand he will ^fdrive them out of his land.”

2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, ^g“I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^hGod Almighty,¹ but by my name the ⁱLord I did not make myself known to them. 4 ^jI also established my covenant with them ^kto give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, ^lI have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ^m‘I am the Lord, and ⁿI will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and ^oI will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I ^pwill take you to be my people, and ^qI will be your God, and you shall know that ^mI am the Lord your God, who has brought you out ⁿfrom under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into ^rthe land that I ^sswore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. ^mI am the Lord.’” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they ^tdid not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

10 So the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have ^tnot listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for ^uI am of uncircumcised lips?” 13 But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

14 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: the ^vsons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. 15 The ^wsons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon. 16 These are the names of the ^xsons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. 17 The ^ysons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 18 The ^zsons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. 19 The ^asons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. 20 ^bAmram took as his wife Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. 21 ^cThe sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The ^dsons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of ^eAmminadab and the sister of ^fNahshon, and she bore him ^gNadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 The ^hsons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and ⁱshe bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their clans.

26 These are the Aaron and Moses ^jto whom the Lord said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt ^kby their hosts.” 27 It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.

28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord said to Moses, ^l“I am the Lord; ^mtell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, ⁿI am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”

Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

1 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like ^oGod to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your ^pprophet. 2 ^qYou shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But ^rI will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I ^smultiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians ^tshall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Now Moses was ^ueighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ^v‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the ^wmagicians of Egypt, also ^xdid the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still ^rPharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, ^ras the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 15 ^yGo to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand ^zthe staff that turned into a ^aserpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The ^bLord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, ^cthat they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. 17 Thus says the Lord, “By this ^dyou shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and ^eit shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will ^fgrow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and ^gstretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he ^hlifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the ⁱwater in the Nile turned into blood. 21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians ^jcould not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 But ^kthe magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So ^lPharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as ^mthe Lord had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

25 Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield

Of David.

Traditions and Commandments

1 ^pNow when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes ^qwho had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were ^rdefiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,¹ holding to ^sthe tradition of ^tthe elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.² And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as ^uthe washing of ^vcups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.³) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to ^sthe tradition of ^tthe elders, ^wbut eat with ^rdefiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you ^xhypocrites, as it is written,

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of ^arejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ^b‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^c‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)⁴— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus ^dmaking void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, ^e“Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 ^fThere is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”⁵ 17 And when he had entered ^gthe house and left the people, ^hhis disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then ⁱare you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart ^jbut his stomach, and is expelled?”⁶ (^kThus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, ^l“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, ^mmurder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, ⁿsensuality, ^oenvy, ^pslander, ^qpride, ^rfoolishness. 23 ^sAll these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.⁷ And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 ^tNow the woman was a ^uGentile, ^va Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be ^wfed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and ^xthrow it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s ^ycrumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may ^zgo your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

31 ^aThen he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to ^bthe Sea of Galilee, in the region of the ^cDecapolis. 32 And they brought to him ^da man who was deaf and ^dhad a speech impediment, and they begged him to ^elay his hand on him. 33 And ^ftaking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and ^fafter spitting touched his tongue. 34 And ^glooking up to heaven, ^hhe sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 ^dAnd his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And ⁱJesus⁸ charged them to tell no one. But ^jthe more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were ^kastonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”