The Burning Bush

¹Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the wmountain of God. ²xAnd ythe angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, zGod called to him aout of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵Then he said, “Do not come near; btake your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶And he said, c“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for dhe was afraid to look at God.

⁷Then the Lord said, e“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their ftaskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸and gI have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and hto bring them up out of that land to a igood and broad land, a land jflowing with milk and honey, to the place of kthe Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹And now, behold, lthe cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the moppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰nCome, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹But Moses said to God, o“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹²He said, p“But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, qyou shall serve God on this mountain.”

¹³Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” ¹⁴God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”1 And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: r‘I am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord,2 the sGod of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is tmy name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. ¹⁶Go and ugather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, v“I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, ¹⁷and I promise that wI will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land wflowing with milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸And xthey will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel yshall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has zmet with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹But I know that the king of Egypt awill not let you go unless compelled bby a mighty hand.3 ²⁰So cI will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with dall the wonders that I will do in it; eafter that he will let you go. ²¹And fI will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, ²²but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for gsilver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So hyou shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

¹sOn a Sabbath,1 while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples tplucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. ²But some of the Pharisees said, u“Why are you doing vwhat is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” ³And Jesus answered them, w“Have you not read xwhat David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴how he entered the house of God and took and ate ythe bread of the Presence, ywhich is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” ⁵And he said to them, z“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

⁶On another Sabbath, ahe entered the synagogue band was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷And the scribes and the Pharisees cwatched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, dso that they might find a reason to accuse him. ⁸But ehe knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. ⁹And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, fis it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰And gafter looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And hhe did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹But they were filled with ifury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles

¹²In these days jhe went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. ¹³And when day came, khe called his disciples land mchose from them twelve, whom he named napostles: ¹⁴Simon, owhom he named Peter, and pAndrew his brother, and pJames and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, ¹⁵and qMatthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called rthe Zealot, ¹⁶and sJudas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

¹⁷And the came down with them and stood on a level place, with ua great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of vTyre and Sidon, ¹⁸who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. wAnd those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd xsought to touch him, for ypower came out from him and healed them all.

The Beatitudes

²⁰And zhe lifted up his eyes on his disciples, aand said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for byours is the kingdom of God.

²¹c“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

d“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

²²“Blessed are you when epeople hate you and when they fexclude you and revile you and gspurn your name as evil, hon account of the Son of Man! ²³iRejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for jso their fathers did to the prophets.

Jesus Pronounces Woes

²⁴k“But woe to you who are rich, lfor you mhave received your consolation.

²⁵“Woe to you who are full now, for nyou shall be hungry.

“Woe to oyou who laugh now, ofor you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶“Woe to you, pwhen all people speak well of you, for qso their fathers did to rthe false prophets.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷“But I say to you who hear, sLove your enemies, tdo good to those who hate you, ²⁸ubless those who curse you, spray for those who abuse you. ²⁹vTo one who wstrikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic2 either. ³⁰xGive to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹And yas you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

³²z“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴And aif you blend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵But clove your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and dyou will be sons of ethe Most High, for fhe is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ³⁶gBe merciful, even as hyour Father is merciful.

Judging Others

³⁷ij“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; jforgive, and you will be forgiven; ³⁸kgive, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put linto your lap. For mwith the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

³⁹He also told them a parable: n“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰oA disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is pfully trained will be like his teacher. ⁴¹iWhy do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but qdo not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴²How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³“For rno good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, ⁴⁴for seach tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵tThe good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces uevil, vfor out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Build Your House on the Rock

⁴⁶w“Why xdo you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? ⁴⁷yEveryone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.3 ⁴⁹zBut the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and athe ruin of that house was great.”

Zophar Speaks: The Wicked Will Suffer

¹Then cZophar the Naamathite answered and said:

²“Therefore my dthoughts answer me,

because of my haste within me.

³I hear censure that insults me,

and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.

⁴Do you not know this from of old,

esince man was placed on earth,

⁵fthat the exulting of the wicked is short,

and the joy of the godless but for a moment?

⁶gThough his height mount up to the heavens,

and his head reach to the clouds,

⁷he will perish forever like his own hdung;

those who have seen him will say, i‘Where is he?’

⁸He will fly away like ja dream and not be found;

he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

⁹kThe eye that saw him will see him no more,

nor will his place any more behold him.

¹⁰His children will seek the favor of the poor,

and his hands will lgive back his wealth.

¹¹His bones are full of his myouthful vigor,

but it will lie ndown with him in the dust.

¹²“Though evil is sweet in his mouth,

though he hides it ounder his tongue,

¹³though he is loath to let it go

and holds it in his mouth,

¹⁴yet his food is turned in his stomach;

it is the venom of pcobras within him.

¹⁵He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;

God casts them out of his belly.

¹⁶He will suck the poison of cobras;

qthe tongue of a viper will kill him.

¹⁷He will not look upon rthe rivers,

the streams flowing with shoney and tcurds.

¹⁸He will ugive back the fruit of his toil

and will not vswallow it down;

from the profit of his trading

he will get no enjoyment.

¹⁹For he has crushed and abandoned the poor;

he has seized a house that he did not build.

²⁰“Because he wknew no xcontentment in his belly,

yhe will not let anything in which he delights escape him.

²¹There was nothing left after he had eaten;

therefore his prosperity will not endure.

²²In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress;

the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.

²³To fill his belly to the full,

God1 will send his burning anger against him

and rain it upon him zinto his body.

²⁴aHe will flee from an iron weapon;

ba bronze arrow will strike chim through.

²⁵It dis drawn forth and comes out of his body;

ethe glittering point comes out of his fgallbladder;

gterrors come upon him.

²⁶Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures;

ha fire not fanned will devour him;

what is left in his tent will be consumed.

²⁷iThe heavens will reveal his iniquity,

and the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸The possessions of his house will be carried away,

dragged off in the day of God's2 wrath.

²⁹jThis is the wicked man's portion from God,

jthe heritage decreed for him by God.”

Principles for Marriage

¹Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: t“It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” ²But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³uThe husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵vDo not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, wso that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

⁶Now as a concession, xnot a command, I say this.1 ⁷yI wish that all were zas I myself am. But aeach has his own gift from God, bone of one kind and one of another.

⁸To the unmarried and the widows I say that cit is good for them to remain single, das I am. ⁹But if they cannot exercise self-control, ethey should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰To the married fI give this charge (not I, but the Lord): gthe wife should not separate from her husband ¹¹(but if she does, hshe should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and gthe husband should not divorce his wife.

¹²To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. ¹³If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. iOtherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. ¹⁵But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you2 jto peace. ¹⁶For how do you know, wife, kwhether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live as You Are Called

¹⁷Only let each person lead the life3 lthat the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. mThis is my rule in nall the churches. ¹⁸Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? oLet him not seek circumcision. ¹⁹pFor neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but qkeeping the commandments of God. ²⁰rEach one should remain in the condition in which he was called. ²¹Were you a bondservant4 when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) ²²For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is sa freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is ta bondservant of Christ. ²³uYou were bought with a price; vdo not become bondservants of men. ²⁴So, brothers,5 win whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

The Unmarried and the Widowed

²⁵Now concerning6 the betrothed,7 xI have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as yone who by the Lord's mercy is ztrustworthy. ²⁶I think that in view of the present8 distress ait is good for a person to remain as he is. ²⁷Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman9 marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. ²⁹This is what I mean, brothers: bthe appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, ³⁰and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy cas though they had no goods, ³¹and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For dthe present form of this world is passing away.

³²I want you to be efree from anxieties. fThe unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. ³³But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, ³⁴and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. ³⁵I say this for your own benefit, gnot to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

³⁶If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed,10 if his11 passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. ³⁷But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. ³⁸So then he who marries his betrothed hdoes well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

³⁹iA wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only jin the Lord. ⁴⁰Yet kin my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think lthat I too have the Spirit of God.