Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt

¹aThese are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵All the descendants of Jacob were bseventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶Then cJoseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ⁷dBut the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Pharaoh Oppresses Israel

⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ewho did not know Joseph. ⁹And he said to his people, “Behold, fthe people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. ¹⁰gCome, hlet us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” ¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them ito afflict them with heavy jburdens. They built for Pharaoh kstore cities, Pithom and lRaamses. ¹²But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. ¹³So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel mwork as slaves ¹⁴and nmade their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶“When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” ¹⁷But the midwives ofeared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” ¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” ²⁰pSo God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. ²¹And because the midwives feared God, qhe gave them families. ²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, r“Every son that is born to the Hebrews1 you shall cast into sthe Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

The Temptation of Jesus

¹sAnd Jesus, tfull of the Holy Spirit, ureturned from the Jordan and was led vby the Spirit in the wilderness ²for wforty days, xbeing tempted by the devil. wAnd he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, yhe was hungry. ³The devil said to him, “If you are zthe Son of God, command athis stone to become bread.” ⁴And Jesus answered him, b“It is written, c‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” ⁵dAnd the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, ⁶and said to him, “To you eI will give all this authority and their glory, efor it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸And Jesus answered him, f“It is written,

g“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,

and hhim only shall you serve.’”

⁹iAnd he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are jthe Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written,

k“‘He will command his angels concerning you,

to guard you,’

¹¹and

k“‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

¹²And Jesus answered him, “It is said, l‘You shall not mput the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him nuntil an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹⁴oAnd Jesus returned pin the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and qa report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵And rhe taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

¹⁶sAnd he came to tNazareth, where he had been brought up. And uas was his custom, vhe went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up wto read. ¹⁷And xthe scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸y“The Spirit of the Lord zis upon me,

because he has anointed me

to aproclaim good news to the poor.

bHe has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and crecovering of sight to the blind,

dto set at liberty those who are oppressed,

¹⁹eto proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

²⁰And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and fsat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were gfixed on him. ²¹And he began to say to them, “Today hthis Scripture ihas been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²²And all spoke well of him and marveled at jthe gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, k“Is not this lJoseph's son?” ²³And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, m‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did nat Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ono prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when pthe heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶and Elijah was sent to none of them qbut only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷And rthere were many lepers1 in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, sbut only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹And they rose up and tdrove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰But upassing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

³¹vAnd he wwent down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And xhe was teaching them yon the Sabbath, ³²and zthey were astonished at his teaching, zfor his word possessed authority. ³³And xin the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴“Ha!2 aWhat have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? bI know who you are—cthe Holy One of God.” ³⁵But Jesus drebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. ³⁶And ethey were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? eFor with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷And freports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

³⁸gAnd he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now hSimon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. ³⁹And he stood over her and irebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

⁴⁰Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and jhe laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. ⁴¹kAnd demons also came out of many, lcrying, “You are mthe Son of God!” But he rebuked them and kwould not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was nthe Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

⁴²oAnd when it was day, he departed and went pinto a desolate place. And qthe people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, ⁴³but he said to them, r“I must spreach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴And he was preaching tin the synagogues of Judea.3

Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked

¹Then aBildad the Shuhite answered and said:

²“How long will you bhunt for words?

Consider, and then we will speak.

³Why are we counted as ccattle?

Why are we stupid in your sight?

⁴You who dtear yourself in your anger,

shall the earth be forsaken for you,

or ethe rock be removed out of its place?

⁵“Indeed, fthe light of the wicked is put out,

and the flame of his fire does not shine.

⁶The light is gdark in his tent,

and his lamp above him is put out.

⁷His strong steps are shortened,

and his hown schemes throw him down.

⁸For he is cast into a net by his own feet,

and he walks on its mesh.

⁹iA trap seizes him by the heel;

a snare lays hold of him.

¹⁰A rope is hidden for him in the ground,

a trap for him in the path.

¹¹jTerrors frighten him on every side,

and chase him at his heels.

¹²His strength is famished,

and calamity is kready for his stumbling.

¹³It consumes the parts of his skin;

lthe firstborn of death consumes his limbs.

¹⁴He is torn from the tent in which he trusted

and is brought to mthe king of terrors.

¹⁵In his tent dwells that which is none of his;

nsulfur is scattered over his habitation.

¹⁶His oroots dry up beneath,

and his branches pwither above.

¹⁷His qmemory perishes from the earth,

and he has no name in the street.

¹⁸rHe is thrust from light into darkness,

and driven out of the world.

¹⁹He has no sposterity or progeny among his people,

and no survivor where he used to live.

²⁰They of the west are appalled at his tday,

and uhorror seizes them of the east.

²¹Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,

such is the place of him who vknows not God.”

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

¹It is actually reported that there is wsexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, xfor a man has his father's wife. ²And yyou are arrogant! Ought you znot rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

³For though aabsent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. ⁴When you are assembled bin the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵you are cto deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so dthat his spirit may be saved ein the day of the Lord.1

⁶fYour boasting is not good. Do you not know that ga little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸Let us therefore celebrate the festival, hnot with the old leaven, ithe leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹I wrote to you in my letter jnot to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰knot at all meaning lthe sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, msince then you would need to go out of the world. ¹¹But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone nwho bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹²For what have I to do with judging ooutsiders? pIs it not those inside the church2 whom you are to judge? ¹³God judges3 those outside. q“Purge the evil person from among you.”