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?”

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

1 ^mAnd he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 ⁿand he sent them out to ^oproclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3 ^pAnd he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, ^qno staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.¹ 4 And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town ^rshake off the dust from your feet ^sas a testimony ^tagainst them.” 6 ^uAnd they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

7 ^vNow ^wHerod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that ^xJohn had been raised from the dead, 8 ^xby some that Elijah had appeared, and ^xby others that one of the prophets of old had risen. 9 Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And ^yhe sought to see him.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

10 On their return ^zthe apostles told him all that they had done. ^aAnd he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he ^bwelcomed them and ^cspoke to them of the kingdom of God and ^ccured those who had need of healing. 12 Now ^dthe day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, ^e“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” 13 But he said to them, ^f“You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than ^gfive loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^hhe looked up to heaven and ⁱsaid a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

18 ^jNow it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, ^k“John the Baptist. But others say, ^lElijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, ^m“The Christ of God.”

Jesus Foretells His Death

21 ⁿAnd he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 ^osaying, ^p“The Son of Man must ^qsuffer many things and ^rbe rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on ^sthe third day be raised.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^tdeny himself and ^utake up his cross ^vdaily and follow me. 24 For ^uwhoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 ^wFor what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For ^xwhoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed ^ywhen he comes in ^zhis glory and the glory of the Father and of ^athe holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not ^btaste death ^cuntil they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

28 ^dNow about eight days after these sayings he took with him ^ePeter and John and James and ^fwent up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was ^galtered, and ^hhis clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,² which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and those who were with him ⁱwere heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake ^jthey saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^ktents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—^lnot knowing what he said. 34 As he was saying these things, ^ma cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And ^ma voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, ⁿmy Chosen One;^{3 o}listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. ^pAnd they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

37 ^qOn the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for ^rhe is my only child. 39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40 And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but ^sthey could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “O ^tfaithless and twisted generation, ^uhow long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus ^vrebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and ^wgave him back to his father. 43 And all were astonished at ^xthe majesty of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

^yBut while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus⁴ said ^zto his disciples, 44 “Let these words sink into your ears: ^zThe Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45 ^aBut they did not understand this saying, and ^bit was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Who Is the Greatest?

46 ^cAn argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. 47 But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side 48 and said to them, ^d“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and ^dwhoever receives me receives him who sent me. For ^ehe who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

49 ^fJohn answered, “Master, we saw someone ^gcasting out demons in your name, and ^hwe tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, ⁱfor the one who is not against you is for you.”

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

51 When the days drew near for ^jhim to be taken up, ^khe set his face ^lto go to Jerusalem. 52 And ^mhe sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of ⁿthe Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But ^othe people did not receive him, because ^phis face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell ^qfire to come down from heaven and consume them?”⁵ 55 But he turned and rebuked them.⁶ 56 And they went on to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

57 As they were going ^ralong the road, ^ssomeone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus⁷ said to him, “Leave ^tthe dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and ^uproclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, ^vbut let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, ^w“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Job Replies: Where Is God?

1 Then Job answered and said:

Warning Against Idolatry

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,¹ that our fathers were all under ^bthe cloud, and all ^cpassed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and ^dall ate the same ^espiritual food, 4 and ^fall drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for ^gthey were overthrown² in the wilderness.

6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as ^hthey did. 7 ⁱDo not be idolaters ^jas some of them were; as it is written, ^k“The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 ^lWe must not indulge in sexual immorality ^mas some of them did, and ⁿtwenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ³ to the test, ^oas some of them did and ^pwere destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, ^qas some of them did and ^rwere destroyed by ^sthe Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but ^tthey were written down for our instruction, ^uon whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore ^vlet anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. ^wGod is faithful, and ^xhe will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

14 Therefore, my beloved, ^yflee from idolatry. 15 I speak ^zas to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 ^aThe cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? ^bThe bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are ^cone body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider ^dthe people of Israel:^{4 e}are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that ^fan idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice ^gthey offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 ^hYou cannot drink the cup of the Lord and ⁱthe cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and ^jthe table of demons. 22 ^kShall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? ^lAre we stronger than he?

Do All to the Glory of God

23 ^m“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 ⁿLet no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 ^oEat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For ^p“the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, ^qeat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean ^ryour conscience, but his. For ^swhy should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that ^tfor which I give thanks?

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or ^uwhatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 ^vGive no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to ^wthe church of God, 33 just as ^xI try to please everyone in everything I do, ^ynot seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.