Exodus 5

⁹“We will go with our young and old,” Moses replied. “We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.”

²⁹And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness,

⁸Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.

⁶But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house.

²⁸Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

³This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.

⁴On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”

¹⁹But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him.

¹⁵Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

³⁵Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

⁸in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

²⁸Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

³They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.

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.’

²⁵Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the Lord, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

⁸Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the Lord and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.

²¹The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.

¹⁶Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

¹⁷And should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, then the rain will not fall on them.

²³Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven must be done diligently for His house. For why should wrath fall on the realm of the king and his sons?

¹¹So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words,

⁵We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,

²And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”

⁴Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.”

²⁰They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil

²¹by promoting customs that are unlawful for us Romans to adopt or practice.”

²⁸A large population is a king’s splendor, but a lack of subjects is a prince’s ruin.

⁷but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

⁸Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

¹⁹The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce your daily quota of bricks.”

¹⁰So the taskmasters and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am no longer giving you straw.

³³All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.

¹¹Uzziah had an army ready for battle that went out to war by assigned divisions, as recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officers.

⁴and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

¹⁸You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

²⁵Then she added, “We have plenty of straw and feed, as well as a place for you to spend the night.”

¹⁹even though there is both straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and the maidservant and young man with me. There is nothing that we, your servants, lack.”

⁴¹He delivered them into the hand of the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them.

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

¹⁴You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the Lord of Hosts?

⁶But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the Lord of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”

²⁰You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?

³Is there no end to your long-winded speeches? What provokes you to continue testifying?

²Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to reside there.’

¹¹So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

¹²If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.

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.

¹³The taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “Fulfill your quota each day, just as you did when straw was provided.”

¹⁴Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over the people, were beaten and asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?”

¹⁸Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph a burning flame; but the house of Esau will be stubble—Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it. Therefore no survivor will remain from the house of Esau.” For the Lord has spoken.

¹⁰For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.

⁷You overthrew Your adversaries by Your great majesty. You unleashed Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble.

¹²If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,

⁵With a sound like that of chariots they bound over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for battle.

²⁴Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁴Therefore this is what the Lord God of Hosts says: “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, who strikes you with a rod and lifts his staff against you as the Egyptians did.

⁸But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

²⁷Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

⁸When the disciples saw this, they were indignant and asked, “Why this waste?

¹⁰For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”

¹¹For we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives, accomplishing nothing, but being busybodies.

⁹If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one decree for you. You have conspired to speak before me false and fraudulent words, hoping the situation will change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can give me its interpretation.”

¹⁰The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer.

¹⁸As for his father, he will die for his own iniquity, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was wrong among his people.

⁸If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

¹Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.

³⁶For the Lord will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.

³⁰Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”

⁶When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob.

⁹Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him.

⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

¹²So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”

⁴And all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines!” Then the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁷You have deceived me, O Lord, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.

¹⁰“I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”

¹⁴I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me.

¹⁵If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”

⁴while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

¹¹So Moses asked the Lord, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people?

⁶And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

²¹Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, “You must not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand.”

²⁶Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you.

³⁶You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.

³⁷For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.

¹⁷As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O Lord.

¹⁸We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world.

¹⁶So this is what the Lord God says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

⁴³I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him.