Making Bricks Without Straw

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold ^ta feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, ^u“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, ^vI will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The ^wGod of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your ^xburdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, ^ythe people of the land are now many,¹ and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the ^ztaskmasters of the people and their ^aforemen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

10 So the ^btaskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The ^ctaskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s ^ctaskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and ^dthey said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

To the choirmaster: with ^fstringed instruments. A Maskil¹ of David.

The Ark Returned to Israel

1 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and ^athe diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him ^ba guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why ^chis hand does not turn away from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden ^dtumors and five golden mice, ^eaccording to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 So you must make images of your ^dtumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, ^fand give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps ^ghe will lighten his hand from off you ^hand your gods and your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts as ⁱthe Egyptians and ^jPharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, ^kdid they not send the people away, and they departed? 7 Now then, take and prepare ^la new cart and two milk cows ^mon which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. 8 And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side ⁿthe figures of gold, which you are returning to him as ^ba guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way 9 and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to ^oBeth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not ^phis hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

10 The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12 And the cows went straight in the direction of ^qBeth-shemesh along ^rone highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of ^qBeth-shemesh. 13 Now the people of ^qBeth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. ^sA great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon ^sthe great stone. And the men of ^qBeth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord. 16 And when ^tthe five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.

17 These are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a ^uguilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron, 18 and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, ^vboth fortified cities and unwalled villages. ^wThe great stone beside which they set down the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

19 ^xAnd he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them,¹ and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow. 20 Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, ^y“Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^zKiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.”

The Compassion of the Lord

The Lord’s Prayer

1 Now Jesus¹ was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, ^gas John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, ^h“When you pray, say:

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything ^qbecause he is his friend, yet because of his impudence³ he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ^rask, and ^sit will be given to you; ^tseek, and you will find; ^uknock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for⁴ a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, ^wwho are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father ^xgive the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus and Beelzebul

14 ^yNow he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons ^zby Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, ^ato test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 ^bBut he, ^cknowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, ^dby whom do ^eyour sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by ^fthe finger of God that I cast out demons, then ^gthe kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 ^hbut when one stronger than he attacks him and ⁱovercomes him, he takes away his ^jarmor in which he trusted and ^kdivides his spoil. 23 ^lWhoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Return of an Unclean Spirit

24 ^m“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through ⁿwaterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And ^othe last state of that person is worse than the first.”

True Blessedness

27 As he said these things, ^pa woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ^q“Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, ^r“Blessed rather are those ^swho hear the word of God and ^tkeep it!”

The Sign of Jonah

29 ^uWhen the crowds were increasing, he began to say, ^v“This generation is an evil generation. ^wIt seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as ^xJonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 ^yThe queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and ^zcondemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, ^asomething greater than Solomon is here. 32 ^bThe men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and ^zcondemn it, for ^cthey repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, ^asomething greater than Jonah is here.

The Light in You

33 ^d“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is ^ethe lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is ^fbad, your body is full of darkness. 35 ^eTherefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, ^gas when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers

37 While Jesus⁵ was speaking, ^ha Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see ⁱthat he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, ^j“Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of ^kgreed and wickedness. 40 ^lYou fools! ^jDid not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But ^mgive as alms those things that are within, and behold, ⁿeverything is clean for you.

42 ^o“But woe to you Pharisees! For ^pyou tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect ^qjustice and ^rthe love of God. ^sThese you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For ^tyou love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! ^uFor you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”

45 One of ^vthe lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you ^wlawyers also! For ^xyou load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 ^yWoe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 ^zSo you are witnesses and you ^aconsent to the deeds of ^byour fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also ^cthe Wisdom of God said, ^d‘I will send them ^eprophets and apostles, ^fsome of whom they will ^gkill and persecute,’ 50 so that ^hthe blood of all the prophets, shed ⁱfrom the foundation of the world, may be ^jcharged against this generation, 51 from the blood of ^kAbel to the blood of ^lZechariah, who perished between ^mthe altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be ^jrequired of this generation. 52 Woe to you ⁿlawyers! ^oFor you have taken away the key of ^pknowledge. You ^qdid not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”