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22 Then Moses returned to the Lord. He said, ‘My Lord, why have you brought trouble to these people? Why did you send me to lead them? 23 I went to speak to Pharaoh with your authority. But since I spoke to Pharaoh, he has caused these people to have trouble. And you have done nothing to save your people.’
God promises to save the Israelites
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. I will use my great power to make him let my people go. With my strong power I will cause him to make them leave his land.’
2 And God said to Moses, ‘I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I showed them that I am God Almighty. But I did not let them know me by my special name, the Lord. 4 I also made my covenant with them. I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreign people. 5 I have heard the Israelites when they cry in pain. I know that the Egyptians have caused the Israelites to be their slaves. Now I have thought about my covenant. 6 So you must say this to the Israelites: “I am the Lord. I will remove you from the power of the Egyptians. You will not have to do hard work to serve them as their slaves any more. I will use my strength to save you and I will punish the Egyptians. 7 I will cause you to be my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I am your God who saved you from the power of the Egyptians. 8 I will take you to live in another land. That is the land that I promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. Yes, I will give it to you and it will belong to you. I am the Lord.” ’
9 Moses told the Lord's message to the Israelites. But they refused to listen to him. They were very weak and tired, because their Egyptian masters were so cruel to them.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 ‘Go and speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him that he must let the Israelites go out of his country.’ 12 But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Look! Even the Israelites have not listened to me. So Pharaoh certainly will not listen to me. You know that I do not speak well.’
13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites, and about Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He commanded Moses and Aaron to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
The ancestors of Moses and Aaron
14 These were the leaders of their family clans:
Israel's firstborn son was Reuben. Reuben's sons were: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were Reuben's family clans.
15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul. Shaul was the son of a Canaanite woman. These were Simeon's family clans.
16 These are the names of the sons of Levi, from the oldest to the youngest: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi himself lived for 137 years.
17 The sons of Gershon and their clans: Libni and Shimei.
18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived for 133 years.
19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
These were the family clans of Levi, from the oldest to the youngest.
20 Amram married Jochebed, his father's sister. Aaron and Moses were their sons. Amram lived for 137 years.
21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg and Zikri.
22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.
23 Aaron married Elisheba. She was the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon. Elisheba's children were: Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were Korah's family clans.
25 Aaron's son, Eleazar, married one of Putiel's daughters. Phinehas was their son.
These were the leaders of the Levite family clans.
26 This shows us the ancestors of Aaron and Moses. They were the men to whom the Lord spoke. He said to them, ‘Lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Lead them out in their families and clans, like an army.’ 27 Moses and Aaron were the men who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They told him that the Israelites would leave Egypt. They were the same Moses and Aaron as we read about in the list of Israelite families.
Aaron will speak on Moses' behalf
28 When the Lord spoke to Moses in the country of Egypt, 29 he said, ‘I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything that I say to you.’ 30 But Moses said, ‘You know that I do not speak well. Pharaoh will not listen to me.’
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Look, I have made you like God to Pharaoh. Your brother Aaron will speak on your behalf, like your prophet.[a] 2 You must say everything that I command you to say. Your brother Aaron must tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.
3 But I will make Pharaoh's mind become hard. I will do many miracles in Egypt that show my power. 4 But Pharaoh will still refuse to listen to you. Then I will show my authority and I will punish the Egyptians. I will bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt like an army. 5 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. I will show my great strength in Egypt and I will lead the Israelites out from there.’
Aaron's stick becomes a snake
6 Moses and Aaron obeyed all the commands of the Lord. 7 Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 ‘Pharaoh will say to you, “Show me a miracle.” Then say to Aaron, “Take your stick and throw it down in front of Pharaoh.” When Aaron does that, his stick will become a snake.’
10 So Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They did everything that the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his stick in front of Pharaoh and his officers. And the stick became a snake! 11 Then Pharaoh called for his wise men and his magicians to come to him. The Egyptian magicians did the same thing as Aaron. They used their secret magic to do it. 12 Each of them threw down his stick and it became a snake. But Aaron's stick ate all their sticks![b] 13 But Pharaoh's mind was hard and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. That was what the Lord had said would happen, and it did!
1: Moses changes water into blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh's mind is still hard. He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes to the river. Wait for him by the edge of the river. Then take in your hand the stick that became a snake. 16 Then say to Pharaoh, “The Lord, the God of the Israelites, has sent me to you to say, ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert.’ But until now, you have not listened to my message. 17 So this is what the Lord says: In this way, you will know that I am the Lord. Look! I will hit the water in the Nile river with the stick that is in my hand. Then the water will become blood. 18 The fish in the river will die, and the river will have a very bad smell. Then the Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the Nile river.” ’
19 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Take your stick. Lift up your hand over the waters of Egypt. Lift your stick up over their rivers and their streams. Lift it up over their lakes and pools of water. Do that so that all the water becomes blood.” There will be blood in every part of Egypt. There will even be blood in their buckets and bowls.’
20 Moses and Aaron obeyed the command of the Lord. Aaron lifted up the stick in front of Pharaoh and his servants. He hit the water in the Nile river with the stick. Then all the water in the river became blood. 21 The fish in the river died. The river had such a bad smell that the Egyptians could not drink its water. There was blood in every part of Egypt.
22 But the Egyptian magicians used their magic and they did the same thing. So Pharaoh's mind continued to be hard. He still refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. The Lord had said that this would happen, and it did! 23 Pharaoh turned away and he went into his house. He did not worry about what had happened. 24 The Egyptians dug holes on the shore of the Nile river to find water to drink. They could not drink the water from the river itself.[c]
25 After the Lord had made the water in the river become blood, another seven days passed.
Jesus tells the people about the servant who did not forgive
21 Then Peter came to talk to Jesus. He asked, ‘Lord, if my friend does wrong things against me many times, how many times should I forgive him? Must I forgive him as many as seven times for the wrong things that he has done against me?’
22 Jesus replied, ‘I do not say only seven times. I say you should forgive him 77 times!’[a]
23 Jesus then said, ‘I will tell you a story to show what the kingdom of heaven is like. A king wanted to check how much money his servants should give to him because of their debts. 24 So the king began to check. His men led a servant to him who had a big debt. He must pay back 10,000 gold coins to the king.[b]
25 The servant could not pay his big debt to the king. So the king said to his men, “Sell the servant and his wife and his children and all his things. Then I will keep the money to pay his debt.”
26 Then the servant went down on his knees in front of the king. He said to the king, “Please, please give me some more time, then I will pay you everything.” 27 The king felt sorry for his servant. He forgave him for all the debt and let him go free.
28 But then that same servant went away and he met another servant of the king. This other servant had to pay back a debt of 100 silver coins to the first servant. The first servant took hold of the neck of the other servant to hurt him. He said, “Give me the money that is mine.”
29 The other servant went down on his knees in front of the first servant. He said, “Please, please give me some more time, then I will give you the money.”
30 But the first servant would not agree. He put the other servant in prison until he could pay his debt to him. 31 The other servants of the king saw what had happened. They were very upset about it. So they went to see the king. They told him about everything that had happened.
32 When the king heard this, he told the first servant to come to him. “You are a very bad person,” the king said to the servant. “I forgave you the whole of your big debt to me. I did this because you asked me very strongly. 33 I was kind to you. You should have been kind to that other servant in the same way.” 34 The king was very angry with the first servant. He told his men to put him in prison. They punished the servant there very much, until he could pay all his debt to the king.’
35 Then Jesus finished the story and he said, ‘You must forgive your friends completely. If you do not agree to forgive them, then my Father in heaven will do like that king did. He will not forgive you.’
Jesus teaches about when a man sends his own wife away
19 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he went away from Galilee. He went to the part of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds followed Jesus there. He made the sick people well again.
3 Some Pharisees came to talk to Jesus. They wanted to see how he would answer their question. They asked, ‘Can a man send his wife away so that she is no longer his wife? Is it right for him to do that for any reason he chooses?’
4 Jesus replied, ‘You surely have read about this in the Bible. At the start, when God created the world, he made people male and female.[c] 5 Because of this, a man leaves his father and his mother. God joins him and his wife together. The man and the woman become like one body. 6 They are not two separate people any longer. They have come together as one person. God has put them together to be husband and wife. So nobody should make them separate.’
7 Then the Pharisees said to Jesus, ‘Moses said that a man could write a letter to say that he and his wife are no longer married. Then the man can send the woman away. Why did Moses say this?’
8 Jesus answered them, ‘Moses said this because you people did not want to obey God. All these things were different at the start, when God made the world. 9 But now I say to you: A man must not send his wife away and marry another woman. If he does that, it is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife. A man may only send his wife away if she has had sex with another man.’
10 Jesus' disciples said to him, ‘You say that this is what it is like for a man and his wife. Then maybe it is better if people do not marry.’
11 Jesus replied, ‘Not everyone can agree with this idea. But God has helped some people to agree with it. 12 There are several different reasons why a person may not marry. Some men cannot have sex. They were born like that. Some other people cannot have sex because people did something to them. Some people choose not to have sex. They do not marry because then they can work better for God and his kingdom. Anyone who can agree with this idea should do it.’
This is a song that David wrote.
God takes care of his people[a]
23 The Lord takes care of me,
like a shepherd with his sheep.
I have everything that I need.
2 He takes me to green fields where I can rest.
He leads me to streams of water where I can drink.
3 He gives me new strength in my life.
He is my guide to the right paths.
He does this to give honour to his name.
4 I may walk through a valley that is as dark as death.
But I will not be afraid of any danger.
This is because you are with me, Lord.
Your stick and your shepherd's pole protect me from danger.
5 You prepare a big meal for me while my enemies watch.
You put olive oil on my head.
You bless me so much that my cup is completely full.
6 I am sure that you will always be good to me.
You will love me all the days of my life.
That will never change.
I will live in the Lord's house for as long as I live.
22 The sins of a wicked person will be the trap that catches him. They will hold him like strong ropes. 23 He cannot control his sins, so he will die. He will become lost, because he does such stupid things.
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