6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand^(A) he will let them go;^(B) because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”^(C)

² God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord.^{(D) 3} I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,^[a](E) but by my name^(F) the Lord^[b](G) I did not make myself fully known to them. ⁴ I also established my covenant^(H) with them to give them the land^(I) of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.^{(J) 5} Moreover, I have heard the groaning^(K) of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.^(L)

⁶ “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.^(M) I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem^(N) you with an outstretched arm^(O) and with mighty acts of judgment.^{(P) 7} I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.^(Q) Then you will know^(R) that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. ⁸ And I will bring you to the land^(S) I swore^(T) with uplifted hand^(U) to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.^(V) I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”^(W)

⁹ Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.^(X)

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go, tell^(Y) Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”^(Z)

¹² But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen^(AA) to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips^[c]?”^(AB)

Family Record of Moses and Aaron

¹³ Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.^(AC)

²⁶ It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt^(AY) by their divisions.”^{(AZ) 27} They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh^(BA) king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.^(BB)

Aaron to Speak for Moses

²⁸ Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, ²⁹ he said to him, “I am the Lord.^(BC) Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

³⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips,^(BD) why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God^(BE) to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.^{(BF) 2} You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. ³ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,^(BG) and though I multiply my signs and wonders^(BH) in Egypt, ⁴ he will not listen^(BI) to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment^(BJ) I will bring out my divisions,^(BK) my people the Israelites. ⁵ And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord^(BL) when I stretch out my hand^(BM) against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded^(BN) them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old^(BO) and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,^(BP)’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”^(BQ)

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. ¹¹ Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers,^(BR) and the Egyptian magicians^(BS) also did the same things by their secret arts:^{(BT) 12} Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Yet Pharaoh’s heart^(BU) became hard and he would not listen^(BV) to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding;^(BW) he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river.^(BX) Confront him on the bank of the Nile,^(BY) and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. ¹⁶ Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship^(BZ) me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.^{(CA) 17} This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord:^(CB) With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.^{(CC) 18} The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink;^(CD) the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”^(CE)

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff^(CF) and stretch out your hand^(CG) over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels^[e] of wood and stone.”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded.^(CH) He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile,^(CI) and all the water was changed into blood.^{(CJ) 21} The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

²² But the Egyptian magicians^(CK) did the same things by their secret arts,^(CL) and Pharaoh’s heart^(CM) became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. ²³ Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. ²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water^(CN), because they could not drink the water of the river.

The Plague of Frogs

²⁵ Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

Psalm 19^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man^(A)

2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers^(B) that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,^(C) carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”^(D)

⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”^(E)

⁸ Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I want you to know that the Son of Man^(F) has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹ “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹² He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God,^(G) saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”^(H)

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners^(I)

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him,^(J) and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”^(K) Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees^(L) saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”^(M)

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^(N)

Jesus Questioned About Fasting^(O)

¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.^(P) Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them,^(Q) and on that day they will fast.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(R)(S)

²³ One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.^{(T) 24} The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”^(U)

²⁵ He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? ²⁶ In the days of Abiathar the high priest,^(V) he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat.^(W) And he also gave some to his companions.”^(X)

²⁷ Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man,^(Y) not man for the Sabbath.^{(Z) 28} So the Son of Man^(AA) is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

3 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue,^(AB) and a man with a shriveled hand was there. ² Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely^(AC) to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.^{(AD) 3} Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

⁴ Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

⁵ He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. ⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians^(AE) how they might kill Jesus.^(AF)

Crowds Follow Jesus^(AG)

⁷ Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.^{(AH) 8} When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.^{(AI) 9} Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. ¹⁰ For he had healed many,^(AJ) so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.^{(AK) 11} Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”^{(AL) 12} But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.^(AM)

Jesus Appoints the Twelve^(AN)

¹³ Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.^{(AO) 14} He appointed twelve^[a](AP) that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach ¹⁵ and to have authority to drive out demons.^{(AQ) 16} These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter),^{(AR) 17} James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), ¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Accused by His Family and by Teachers of the Law^(AS)(AT)

²⁰ Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered,^(AU) so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.^{(AV) 21} When his family^[b] heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”^(AW)

²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem^(AX) said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul!^(AY) By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”^(AZ)

²³ So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables:^(BA) “How can Satan^(BB) drive out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷ In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.^{(BC) 28} Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”^(BD)

³⁰ He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

³¹ Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived.^(BE) Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. ³² A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

³³ “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

³⁴ Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”