Messengers from John the Baptist

1 ^bWhen Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 Now when John heard in ^cprison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you ^dthe one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John ^ewhat you hear and see: 5 ^fthe blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers¹ are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and ^gthe poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^hinto the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man² dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A ⁱprophet?³ Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,

11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is ^kleast in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 ^lFrom the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,⁴ and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, ^mhe is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear,⁵ let him hear.

16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

18 For John came neither ⁿeating nor ^odrinking, and they say, ^p‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a ^qfriend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ^rYet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”⁶

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

1 Paul¹ came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the ^lson of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers² at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and ^mcircumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they ⁿdelivered to them for observance ^othe decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they ^pincreased in numbers daily.

The Macedonian Call

6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been ^qforbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the ^rSpirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the ^snight: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul³ had seen the vision, immediately ^twe sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to ^upreach the gospel to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 ^vand from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the⁴ district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a ^wworshiper of God. The Lord ^xopened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was ^ybaptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, ^zcome to my house and stay.” And she ^aprevailed upon us.

Teach Me Your Paths

¹ Of David.

Moses Given Powerful Signs

1 ^eThen Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A ^fstaff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.”¹ And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, ^gbehold, his hand was leprous² like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was ^hrestored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile ⁱwill become blood on the dry ground.”

10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, ^jI am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and ^kI will be ^lwith your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” 14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. ^mBehold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 ⁿYou shall speak to him and ^oput the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16 He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. 17 And take in your hand ^pthis staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for ^qall the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and ^rhis sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the ^smiracles that I have put in your power. But ^tI will harden his heart, so that ^uhe will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^vIsrael is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, ^w“Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, ^xI will kill your firstborn son.’”

24 ^yAt a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a ^zflint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’³ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at ^athe mountain of God and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and ^bgathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And the people ^cbelieved; and when they heard that the Lord had ^dvisited the people of Israel and that he had ^eseen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Making Bricks Without Straw

1 ^fAfterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ^g‘Let my people go, ^hthat they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, ⁱI will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness ^jthat 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 ^kburdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, ^lthe people of the land are now many,⁴ and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to ^mmake 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 taskmasters 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 taskmasters 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 taskmasters 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 they said to them, ⁿ“The Lord look on you and judge, because you have ^omade 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, ^pwhy have you done evil to this people? ^qWhy did you ever send ^rme? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and ^syou have not delivered your people at all.”

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 a strong hand he will ^tdrive them out of his land.”

2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, ^u“I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as ^vGod Almighty,⁵ but ^wby my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 ^xI also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the ^ygroaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as ^zslaves, and I have ^aremembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and ^bI will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of ^cjudgment. 7 ^dI will ^etake you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I ^fswore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, ^gbut ^hthey did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and ⁱharsh slavery.

10 So the Lord said to Moses, 11 ^j“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 not listened to me. ^kHow then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I 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 ^lThese are the heads of their fathers’ houses: ^mthe sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. 15 ⁿThe sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon. 16 ^oThese are the names of ^pthe sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 18 ^qThe sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Amram ^rtook 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 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 The sons 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 she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their clans.

26 These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their ^shosts.” 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, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”