Thursday 16 March 2017

Day 17: Exodus 5 - 8


EXODUS 5 

1:
 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, "Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.' " 
2: But Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go."
3: Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword." 
4: But the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labours!" 
5: Pharaoh continued, "Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop working!" 
6: That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, 
7: "You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 
8: But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, "Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.' 
9: Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labour at it and pay no attention to deceptive words." 
10: So the taskmasters and the supervisors of the people went out and said to the people, "Thus says Pharaoh, "I will not give you straw. 
11: Go and get straw yourselves, wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.' " 
12: So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw. 
13: The taskmasters were urgent, saying, "Complete your work, the same daily assignment as when you were given straw." 
14: And the supervisors of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, "Why did you not finish the required quantity of bricks yesterday and today, as you did before?" 
15: Then the Israelite supervisors came to Pharaoh and cried, "Why do you treat your servants like this? 
16: No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, "Make bricks!' Look how your servants are beaten! You are unjust to your own people." 
17: He said, "You are lazy, lazy; that is why you say, "Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.' 
18: Go now, and work; for no straw shall be given you, but you shall still deliver the same number of bricks." 
19: The Israelite supervisors saw that they were in trouble when they were told, "You shall not lessen your daily number of bricks." 
20: As they left Pharaoh, they came upon Moses and Aaron who were waiting to meet them. 
21: They said to them, "The Lord look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odour with Pharaoh and his officials, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us." 
22: Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me? 
23: Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people."

EXODUS 6 

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh: Indeed, by a mighty hand he will let them go; by a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land." 
2 God also spoke to Moses and said to him: "I am the Lord. 
3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name "The Lord' I did not make myself known to them. 
4 I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens. 
5 I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians are holding as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 
6 Say therefore to the Israelites, "I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 
7 I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. 
8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.' " 
9 Moses told this to the Israelites; but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery. 
10Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 
11 "Go and tell Pharaoh King of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land." 
12 But Moses spoke to the Lord, "The Israelites have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?" 
13 Thus the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them orders regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh King of Egypt, charging them to free the Israelites from the land of Egypt. 
14 The following are the heads of their ancestral houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. 
15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. 
16 The following are the names of the sons of Levi according to their genealogies: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and the length of Levi's life was one hundred thirty-seven years. 
17The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their families. 
18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, and the length of Kohath's life was one hundred thirty-three years. 
19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their genealogies. 
20 Amram married Jochebed his father's sister and she bore him Aaron and Moses, and the length of Amram's life was one hundred thirty-seven years. 
21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 
22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 
23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 
24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.
25 Aaron's son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the ancestral houses of the Levites by their families. 
26 It was this same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, "Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, company by company." 
27 It was they who spoke to Pharaoh King of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, the same Moses and Aaron. 
28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 
29 he said to him, "I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh King of Egypt all that I am speaking to you." 
30 But Moses said in the Lord's presence, "Since I am a poor speaker, why would Pharaoh listen to me?"

EXODUS 7 

1 The Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 
2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land. 
3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 
4 When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring my people the Israelites, company by company, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 
5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them." 
6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 
7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. 
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 
9"When Pharaoh says to you, "Perform a wonder,' then you shall say to Aaron, "Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.' " 
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord have commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 
11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts. 
12 Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes; but Aaron's staff swallowed up theirs. 
13 Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 
15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the river bank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake.
16 Say to him, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness." But until now you have not listened. 
17 Thus says the Lord, "By this you shall know that I am the Lord." See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood. 
18 The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.' " 
19 The Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, "Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its canals, and its ponds, and all its pools of water—so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.' " 
20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood, 
21 and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt. 
22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 
23Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.
24 And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river. 
25 Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

EXODUS 8 

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, "Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 
2 If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. 
3 The river shall swarm with frogs; they shall come up into your palace, into your bedchamber and your bed, and into the houses of your officials and of your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 
4 The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your officials.' " 
5 And the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, "Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.' " 
6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 
7 But the magicians did the same by their secret arts, and brought frogs up on the land of Egypt. 
8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, "Pray to the Lord to take away the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord." 
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, "Kindly tell me when I am to pray for you and for your officials and for your people, that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile." 
10 And he said, "Tomorrow." Moses said, "As you say! So that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God, 
11 the frogs shall leave you and your houses and your officials and your people; they shall be left only in the Nile." 
12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs that he had brought upon Pharaoh. 
13 And the Lord did as Moses requested: the frogs died in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. 
14 And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, "Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.' " 
17 And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and gnats came on humans and animals alike; all the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.
18 The magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, but they could not. There were gnats on both humans and animals. 
19 And the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God!" But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. 
20 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, "Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 
21 For if you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies; so also the land where they live. 
22 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I the Lord am in this land. 
23 Thus I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign shall appear tomorrow.' " 
24The Lord did so, and great swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and into his officials' houses; in all of Egypt the land was ruined because of the flies.
25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God within the land." 
26 But Moses said, "It would not be right to do so; for the sacrifices that we offer to the Lord our God are offensive to the Egyptians. If we offer in the sight of the Egyptians sacrifices that are offensive to them, will they not stone us? 
27 We must go a three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he commands us." 
28 So Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, provided you do not go very far away. Pray for me." 
29 Then Moses said, "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people; only do not let Pharaoh again deal falsely by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord." 
30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 
31 And the Lord did as Moses asked: he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people; not one remained. 
32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and would not let the people go.

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