Exodus 4

¹⁸The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

³¹and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.

⁶“Ah, Lord God,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”

¹⁴But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”

²⁵He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.

³⁰But in the Lord’s presence Moses replied, “Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

²⁰So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

¹⁷But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”

²The Lord extends Your mighty scepter from Zion: “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

⁴but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

³⁷Jacob, however, took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the bark, exposing the white inner wood of the branches.

³²Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the Lord.

¹⁰So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

¹¹But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.

¹⁹It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

¹⁷But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”

¹⁸they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”

³Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid them on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand.

⁴When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.

¹³You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.

⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

¹Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered.

²“Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

⁹The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in you.” And Moses relayed to the Lord what the people had said.

²The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you.

¹⁵God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

⁷Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

³Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me

¹Then the Lord appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.

²⁷Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.

¹⁰As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous,

¹⁴So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored and became like that of a little child, and he was clean.

³⁹See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

³Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

¹³So Moses cried out to the Lord, “O God, please heal her!”

¹⁴But the Lord answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.”

¹⁰For they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.”

³⁹See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

³⁰and Aaron relayed everything the Lord had said to Moses. And Moses performed the signs before the people,

³¹and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.

⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”

¹⁸For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.

²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”

¹⁹And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers and canals and ponds and all the reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”

²⁰Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood.

²For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

⁶“Ah, Lord God,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”

¹²But in the Lord’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?”

²²So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

¹Then Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”

⁶Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible.

¹⁰For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is unimpressive, and his speaking is of no account.”

⁸the Lord opens the eyes of the blind, the Lord lifts those who are weighed down, the Lord loves the righteous.

⁷And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”

⁶If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?

⁹He who affixed the ear, can He not hear? He who formed the eye, can He not see?

²⁶I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.

²⁷But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

¹⁵O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.

⁹Then the Lord reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

¹¹When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say.

¹²For at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.”

¹⁹But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say.

²⁰For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

¹⁴So make up your mind not to worry beforehand how to defend yourselves.

¹⁵For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

¹¹But when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand what to say. Instead, speak whatever you are given at that time, for it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

⁴The Lord God has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

³Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

¹Then Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”

¹⁴So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord upon me.

¹⁵I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.

⁶The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

²⁹Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”

¹⁶the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

¹³So He sent two of His disciples and told them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jug of water will meet you. Follow him,

¹⁴and whichever house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is My guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’

⁷This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel.

²⁷Meanwhile, the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.

⁶But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

⁷and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.

²¹For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

²⁸It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements:

¹⁶I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

¹⁸I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.

¹⁶And the Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”

¹²But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

¹⁵For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

⁵Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”

¹The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.

²You are to speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land.

⁶I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’

³⁴Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’?

³⁵If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—

¹⁹Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their causes to Him.

²And the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.

²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

⁹“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.”

¹⁰So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

¹Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

⁵⁰And Jesus told the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

¹All who are under the yoke of slavery should regard their masters as fully worthy of honor, so that God’s name and our teaching will not be discredited.

³⁶The jailer informed Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders to release you. Now you may go on your way in peace.”

³Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But they were unable to answer him, because they were terrified in his presence.

¹⁷“Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.”

²⁰“Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.”

²³After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.

¹⁵When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well.

⁹So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”

⁸“Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.”

⁹So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he had been commanded.

²And the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.

³along with her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

⁴The other son was named Eliezer, for Moses had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

¹¹Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.

¹⁷But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”

¹⁸Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.

²⁰For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁷Why, O Lord, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.

⁸And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly.

¹³Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

³⁵So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

¹When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.

⁴the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.

⁹They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”

²³in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

¹You are sons of the Lord your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,

⁵Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.

⁶And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

²⁹Now at midnight the Lord struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.

⁵and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well as the firstborn of all the cattle.

⁸He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, of both man and beast.

³⁶Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor.

¹After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”

¹⁶Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.

¹⁴But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

²²Then God’s anger was kindled because Balaam was going along, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

²³When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the path and went into a field. So Balaam beat her to return her to the path.

¹⁶When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.

³Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.

¹⁸The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

⁸Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tearing them apart.

²At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel once again.”

³So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.

¹⁴But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

⁷And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed!

¹Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

⁵Now send men to Joppa to call for a man named Simon who is called Peter.

⁶He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.

¹⁸When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke, they trembled and stood at a distance.

²⁰So get up! Go downstairs and accompany them without hesitation, because I have sent them.”

³Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “This is what you are to tell the house of Jacob and explain to the sons of Israel:

¹⁵You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do.

¹⁶He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him.

⁸And the Lord said, “If they refuse to believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe that of the second.

⁹But if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. Then the water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”

²⁹‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.

²“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”

¹⁶Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.

¹¹But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.

¹⁶He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him.

¹⁸The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

²⁷you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.

²⁵God saw the Israelites and took notice.

¹²Then they believed His promises and sang His praise.

¹³Yet they soon forgot His works and failed to wait for His counsel.

¹⁶Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.

⁷The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.