The Fifth Plague: Egyptian Livestock Die

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, p“Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says qthe Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, ³behold, rthe hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. ⁴sBut the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.”’” ⁵And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” ⁶And the next day the Lord did this thing. tAll the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. ⁷And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But uthe heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become vboils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. ¹¹And wthe magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. ¹²xBut the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as ythe Lord had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

¹³Then the Lord said to Moses, z“Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ¹⁴For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself,1 and on your servants and your people, so athat you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. ¹⁵For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. ¹⁶bBut for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so cthat my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. ¹⁷dYou are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. ¹⁸Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. ¹⁹Now therefore send, eget your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”’” ²⁰Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, ²¹but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

²²Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be fhail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” ²³Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the gLord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. ²⁴There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail hstruck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. ²⁶iOnly in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

²⁷Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time jI have sinned; the kLord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. ²⁸lPlead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” ²⁹Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, mI will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that nthe earth is the Lord's. ³⁰But as for you and your servants, oI know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” ³¹(The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. ³²But the wheat and the emmer2 were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) ³³So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and mstretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. ³⁴But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and phardened his heart, qhe and his servants. ³⁵So rthe heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees

¹In the meantime, twhen so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, u“Beware of vthe leaven of the Pharisees, wwhich is hypocrisy. ²xNothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ³Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in yprivate rooms shall be proclaimed on zthe housetops.

Have No Fear

⁴“I tell you, my friends, ado not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. ⁵But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him bwho, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.1 Yes, I tell you, fear him! ⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?2 And cnot one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷Why, deven the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; eyou are of more value than many sparrows.

Acknowledge Christ Before Men

⁸“And I tell you, feveryone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge gbefore the angels of God, ⁹but hthe one who denies me before men iwill be denied gbefore the angels of God. ¹⁰And jeveryone who speaks a word kagainst the Son of Man lwill be forgiven, but the one who mblasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ¹¹nAnd when they obring you before the synagogues and pthe rulers and pthe authorities, qdo not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, ¹²rfor the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³sSomeone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But he said to him, t“Man, uwho made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵And he said to them, v“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶And he told them a parable, saying, w“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, ¹⁷and he thought to himself, x‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my ybarns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up zfor many years; relax, aeat, drink, be merry.”’ ²⁰But God said to him, b‘Fool! zThis night cyour soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, dwhose will they be?’ ²¹So is the one ewho lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Be Anxious

²²And he said to his disciples, f“Therefore I tell you, gdo not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. ²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴hConsider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. iOf how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his jspan of life?3 ²⁶If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? ²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,4 yet I tell you, keven Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, lO you of little faith! ²⁹And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor mbe worried. ³⁰For nall the nations of the world seek after these things, and nyour Father knows that you need them. ³¹Instead, oseek phis5 kingdom, qand these things will be added to you.

³²r“Fear not, little sflock, for tit is your Father's good pleasure to give you uthe kingdom. ³³vSell your possessions, and wgive to the needy. xProvide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with ya treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ³⁴zFor where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

You Must Be Ready

³⁵a“Stay dressed for action6 and bkeep your lamps burning, ³⁶and be like men who are cwaiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and dknocks. ³⁷eBlessed are those servants7 whom the master finds eawake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, fhe will dress himself for service and ghave them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! ³⁹hBut know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour ithe thief was coming, he8 would not have left his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰You also must be jready, for kthe Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹Peter said, “Lord, lare you telling this parable for us or for all?” ⁴²And the Lord said, “Who then is mthe faithful and mwise nmanager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ⁴³oBlessed is that servant9 whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴Truly, I say to you, phe will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master qis delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and rget drunk, ⁴⁶the master of that servant will come son a day when he does not expect him and sat an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷tAnd that servant who uknew his master's will but vdid not get ready uor act according to his will, will receive a wsevere beating. ⁴⁸xBut the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, ywill receive a light beating. zEveryone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Not Peace, but Division

⁴⁹a“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ⁵⁰bI have a baptism to be baptized with, and how cgreat is my distress until it is accomplished! ⁵¹dDo you think that I have come to give peace on earth? eNo, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵²For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³They will be divided, ffather against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Interpreting the Time

⁵⁴He also said to the crowds, g“When you see ha cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. ⁵⁵And gwhen you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be iscorching heat,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶You hypocrites! jYou know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Settle with Your Accuser

⁵⁷“And why kdo you not judge lfor yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸mAs you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. ⁵⁹I tell you, nyou will never get out until you have paid the very last openny.”10

Job Continues: I Will Maintain My Integrity

¹And Job again rtook up his discourse, and said:

²“As God lives, who has staken away my right,

and the Almighty, who has tmade my soul bitter,

³as long as my breath is in me,

and uthe spirit of God is in my nostrils,

⁴my lips will not speak vfalsehood,

and my tongue will not utter vdeceit.

⁵Far be it from me to say that you are right;

till I die I will not put away my wintegrity from me.

⁶I xhold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;

my heart does not yreproach me for any of my days.

⁷“Let my enemy be as the wicked,

and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.

⁸zFor what is the hope of the godless awhen God cuts him off,

when God takes away his life?

⁹bWill God hear his cry

when distress comes upon him?

¹⁰Will he ctake delight in the Almighty?

Will he call upon God at all times?

¹¹I will teach you concerning the hand of God;

dwhat is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹²Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;

why then have you become altogether vain?

¹³e“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,

and the heritage that foppressors receive from the Almighty:

¹⁴If his gchildren are multiplied, it is for hthe sword,

and his descendants have not enough bread.

¹⁵Those who survive him the pestilence buries,

and his iwidows do not weep.

¹⁶Though he jheap up silver like dust,

and pile up clothing like clay,

¹⁷he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,

and kthe innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸He builds his lhouse like a moth's,

like ma booth that na watchman makes.

¹⁹He goes to bed rich, but will odo so no more;

he opens his eyes, and phis wealth is gone.

²⁰qTerrors overtake him like ra flood;

in the night a whirlwind scarries him off.

²¹tThe east wind lifts him up and he is gone;

it usweeps him out of his place.

²²It1 hurls at him vwithout pity;

he flees from its2 power in headlong flight.

²³It wclaps its hands at him

and xhisses at him from its place.

The Way of Love

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have aprophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, bso as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³cIf I give away all I have, and dif I deliver up my body to be burned,1 but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴eLove is patient and fkind; love gdoes not envy or boast; it his not arrogant ⁵or rude. It idoes not insist on its own way; it jis not irritable or resentful;2 ⁶it kdoes not rejoice at wrongdoing, but lrejoices with the truth. ⁷mLove bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, eendures all things.

⁸Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For nwe know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but owhen the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹²For pnow we see in a mirror dimly, but qthen face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as rI have been fully known.

¹³So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.