Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

¹And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like oGod to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your pprophet. ²qYou shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. ³But rI will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I smultiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, ⁴Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. ⁵The Egyptians tshall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” ⁶Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷Now Moses was ueighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹“When Pharaoh says to you, v‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” ¹⁰So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the wmagicians of Egypt, also xdid the same by their secret arts. ¹²For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³Still rPharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, ras the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

¹⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵yGo to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand zthe staff that turned into a aserpent. ¹⁶And you shall say to him, ‘The bLord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, cthat they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. ¹⁷Thus says the Lord, “By this dyou shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and eit shall turn into blood. ¹⁸The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will fgrow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” ¹⁹And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and gstretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

²⁰Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he hlifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the iwater in the Nile turned into blood. ²¹And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians jcould not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. ²²But kthe magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So lPharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as mthe Lord had said. ²³Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. ²⁴And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

²⁵Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

¹After this the Lord appointed xseventy-two1 others and ysent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. ²zAnd he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. aTherefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ³Go your way; bbehold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ⁴cCarry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and dgreet no one on the road. ⁵Whatever house you enter, first say, e‘Peace be to this house!’ ⁶And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, fit will return to you. ⁷And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for gthe laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. ⁸Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. ⁹Heal the sick in it and say to them, h‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ¹¹i‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that jthe kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹²I tell you, kit will be more bearable on lthat day for Sodom than for that town.

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

¹³m“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in nTyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴oBut it will be more bearable in the judgment for nTyre and Sidon than for you. ¹⁵And you, Capernaum, pwill you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to qHades.

¹⁶r“The one who hears you hears me, and sthe one who rejects you rejects me, and tthe one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The Return of the Seventy-Two

¹⁷uThe seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, veven the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸And he said to them, w“I saw Satan xfall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority yto tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of zthe enemy, and anothing shall hurt you. ²⁰bNevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that cyour names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Rejoices in the Father's Will

²¹dIn that same hour ehe rejoiced fin the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, gLord of heaven and earth, that hyou have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and irevealed them to little children; yes, Father, for jsuch was your gracious will.2 ²²kAll things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is kexcept the Father, or who the Father is kexcept the Son and anyone lto whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

²³Then turning to the disciples he said privately, m“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴For I tell you nthat many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵oAnd behold, a plawyer stood up to qput him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to rinherit eternal life?” ²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷And he answered, s“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and tyour neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; udo this, and you will live.”

²⁹But he, vdesiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰Jesus replied, “A man wwas going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a xpriest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise xa Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a ySamaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴He went to him and zbound up his wounds, pouring on zoil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵And the next day he took out two adenarii3 and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Martha and Mary

³⁸Now as they went on their way, Jesus4 entered a village. And a woman named bMartha cwelcomed him into her house. ³⁹And she had a sister called bMary, who dsat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” ⁴¹But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are eanxious and troubled about many things, ⁴²but one thing is necessary.5 Mary has chosen fthe good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

¹“Why are lnot times of judgment mkept by the Almighty,

and why do those who know him never see his ndays?

²Some move olandmarks;

they seize flocks and pasture them.

³They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;

they ptake the widow's ox for a pledge.

⁴They qthrust the poor off the road;

the poor of the earth rall hide themselves.

⁵Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert

the poor1 sgo out to their toil, tseeking game;

the wasteland yields food for their children.

⁶They gather their2 fodder in the field,

and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.

⁷They ulie all night naked, without clothing,

and have no covering in the cold.

⁸They are wet with the rain of the mountains

and vcling to the rock for lack of shelter.

⁹(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,

and they take a pledge against the poor.)

¹⁰They go about naked, without clothing;

hungry, they wcarry the sheaves;

¹¹among the olive rows of the wicked3 they make oil;

they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.

¹²From out of the city the dying4 groan,

and the soul of xthe wounded cries for help;

yet God charges no one with ywrong.

¹³“There are those who rebel zagainst the light,

who are not acquainted with its ways,

and do not stay in its paths.

¹⁴The murderer rises before it is light,

that he amay kill the poor and needy,

and in the night he is like a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer also waits for bthe twilight,

saying, ‘No ceye will see me’;

and he veils his face.

¹⁶In the dark they ddig through houses;

by day they shut themselves up;

they do not know the light.

¹⁷For edeep darkness is morning to all of them;

for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

¹⁸“You say, f‘Swift are they on the face of the waters;

their portion is cursed in the land;

no treader turns toward their vineyards.

¹⁹Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;

so does gSheol those who have sinned.

²⁰The womb forgets them;

the worm finds them sweet;

they are hno longer remembered,

so wickedness is broken like ia tree.’

²¹“They wrong the barren, childless woman,

and do no good to the widow.

²²Yet God5 prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;

they rise up when they despair of life.

²³He gives them security, and they are supported,

and his jeyes are upon their ways.

²⁴They are exalted ka little while, and then lare gone;

they are brought low and gathered up like all others;

they are mcut off like the heads of grain.

²⁵If it is nnot so, who will prove me a liar

and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

¹zBe imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Head Coverings

²Now I commend you abecause you remember me in everything and bmaintain the traditions ceven as I delivered them to you. ³But I want you to understand that dthe head of every man is Christ, ethe head of a wife1 is her husband,2 and fthe head of Christ is God. ⁴Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, ⁵but every wife3 who prays or gprophesies hwith her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same ias if her head were shaven. ⁶For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. ⁷For a man ought not to cover his head, since jhe is the image and glory of God, but kwoman is the glory of man. ⁸For lman was not made from woman, but woman from man. ⁹Neither was man created for woman, but mwoman for man. ¹⁰That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.4 ¹¹Nevertheless, nin the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; ¹²for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And oall things are from God. ¹³Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, ¹⁵but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. ¹⁶pIf anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do qthe churches of God.

The Lord's Supper

¹⁷But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, rI hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,5 ¹⁹for sthere must be factions among you in order tthat those who are genuine among you may be recognized. ²⁰When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. ²¹For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, uanother gets drunk. ²²What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise vthe church of God and whumiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

²³For xI received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that ythe Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for6 you. Do this in remembrance of me.”7 ²⁵In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death zuntil he comes.

²⁷aWhoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord bin an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning cthe body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸dLet a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some ehave died.8 ³¹fBut if we judged9 ourselves truly, we would not be judged. ³²But when we are judged by the Lord, gwe are disciplined10 so that we may not be hcondemned along with the world.

³³So then, my brothers,11 when you come together to eat, wait for12 one another— ³⁴iif anyone is hungry, jlet him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things kI will give directions lwhen I come.