Bible in 90 Days

1 ^1-4 This is the list of the sons of Jacob who accompanied him to Egypt, with their families: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher.

⁵ So the total number who went with him was seventy (for Joseph was already there). ⁶ In due season Joseph and each of his brothers died, ending that generation. ⁷ Meanwhile, their descendants were very fertile, increasing rapidly in numbers; there was a veritable population explosion so that they soon became a large nation, and they filled the land of Goshen.

⁸ Then, eventually, a new king came^[a] to the throne of Egypt who felt no obligation to the descendants of Joseph.

⁹ He told his people, “These Israelis are becoming dangerous to us because there are so many of them. ¹⁰ Let’s figure out a way to put an end to this. If we don’t, and war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us and escape out of the country.”

¹¹ So the Egyptians made slaves of them and put brutal taskmasters over them to wear them down under heavy burdens while building the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. ¹² But the more the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed them, the more the Israelis seemed to multiply! The Egyptians became alarmed ^13-14 and made the Hebrew slavery more bitter still, forcing them to toil long and hard in the fields and to carry heavy loads of mortar and brick.

^15-16 Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, instructed the Hebrew midwives (their names were Shiphrah and Puah) to kill all Hebrew boys as soon as they were born, but to let the girls live. ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God and didn’t obey the king—they let the boys live too.

¹⁸ The king summoned them before him and demanded, “Why have you disobeyed my command and let the baby boys live?”

¹⁹ “Sir,” they told him, “the Hebrew women have their babies so quickly that we can’t get there in time! They are not slow like the Egyptian women!”

²⁰ And God blessed the midwives because they were God-fearing women.^[b] So the people of Israel continued to multiply and to become a mighty nation. ²¹ And because the midwives revered God, he gave them children of their own. ²² Then Pharaoh commanded all of his people to throw the newborn Hebrew boys into the Nile River. But the girls, he said, could live.

2 ^1-2 There were at this time a Hebrew fellow and girl of the tribe of Levi who married and had a family, and a baby son was born to them. When the baby’s mother saw that he was an unusually beautiful baby, she hid him at home for three months. ³ Then, when she could no longer hide him, she made a little boat from papyrus reeds, waterproofed it with tar, put the baby in it, and laid it among the reeds along the river’s edge. ⁴ The baby’s sister watched from a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Well, this is what happened: A princess, one of Pharaoh’s daughters, came down to bathe in the river, and as she and her maids were walking along the riverbank, she spied the little boat among the reeds and sent one of the maids to bring it to her. ⁶ When she opened it, there was a baby! And he was crying. This touched her heart. “He must be one of the Hebrew children!” she said.

⁷ Then the baby’s sister approached the princess and asked her, “Shall I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ “Yes, do!” the princess replied. So the little girl rushed home and called her mother!

⁹ “Take this child home and nurse him for me,” the princess instructed the baby’s mother, “and I will pay you well!” So she took him home and nursed him.

¹⁰ Later, when he was older, she brought him back to the princess and he became her son. She named him Moses (meaning “to draw out”^[c]) because she had drawn him out of the water.

¹¹ One day, many years later^[d] when Moses had grown up and become a man, he went out to visit his fellow Hebrews and saw the terrible conditions they were under. During his visit he saw an Egyptian knock a Hebrew to the ground—one of his own Hebrew brothers! ¹² Moses looked this way and that to be sure no one was watching, then killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

¹³ The next day as he was out visiting among the Hebrews again, he saw two of them fighting. “What are you doing, hitting your own Hebrew brother like that?” he said to the one in the wrong.

¹⁴ “And who are you?” the man demanded. “I suppose you think you are our prince and judge! And do you plan to kill me as you did that Egyptian yesterday?” When Moses realized that his deed was known, he was frightened. ¹⁵ And sure enough, when Pharaoh heard about it he ordered Moses arrested and executed. But Moses ran away into the land of Midian. As he was sitting there beside a well, ¹⁶ seven girls who were daughters of the priest of Midian came to draw water and fill the water troughs for their father’s flocks. ¹⁷ But the shepherds chased the girls away. Moses then came to their aid and rescued them from the shepherds and watered their flocks.

¹⁸ When they returned to their father, Reuel, he asked, “How did you get the flocks watered so quickly today?”

¹⁹ “An Egyptian defended us against the shepherds,” they told him; “he drew water for us and watered the flocks.”

²⁰ “Well, where is he?” their father demanded. “Did you just leave him there? Invite him home for supper.”

²¹ Moses eventually decided to accept Reuel’s invitation to live with them, and Reuel gave him one of the girls, Zipporah, as his wife. ²² They had a baby named Gershom (meaning “foreigner”), for he said, “I am a stranger in a foreign land.”

²³ Several years later the king of Egypt died. The Israelis were groaning beneath their burdens, in deep trouble because of their slavery, and weeping bitterly before the Lord. He heard their cries from heaven, ²⁴ and remembered his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bring their descendants back into the land of Canaan.^{[e] 25} Looking down upon them, he knew that the time had come for their rescue.^[f]

3 One day as Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro,^[g] the priest of Midian, out at the edge of the desert near Horeb, the mountain of God, ² suddenly the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him as a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw that the bush was on fire and that it didn’t burn up, ^3-4 he went over to investigate. Then God called out to him, “Moses! Moses!”

“Who is it?” Moses asked.

⁵ “Don’t come any closer,” God told him. “Take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground. ⁶ I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Moses covered his face with his hands, for he was afraid to look at God.)

⁷ Then the Lord told him, “I have seen the deep sorrows of my people in Egypt and have heard their pleas for freedom from their harsh taskmasters. ⁸ I have come to deliver them from the Egyptians and to take them out of Egypt into a good land, a large land, a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live. ⁹ Yes, the wail of the people of Israel has risen to me in heaven, and I have seen the heavy tasks the Egyptians have oppressed them with. ¹⁰ Now I am going to send you to Pharaoh, to demand that he let you lead my people out of Egypt.”

¹¹ “But I’m not the person for a job like that!” Moses exclaimed.

¹² Then God told him, “I will certainly be with you, and this is the proof that I am the one who is sending you: When you have led the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God here upon this mountain!”

¹³ But Moses asked, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them that their fathers’ God has sent me, they will ask, ‘Which God are you talking about?’ What shall I tell them?”

¹⁴ “‘The Sovereign God,’”^[h] was the reply. “Just say, ‘I Am has sent me!’ ¹⁵ Yes, tell them, ‘Jehovah,^[i] the God of your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has sent me to you.’ (This is my eternal name, to be used throughout all generations.)

¹⁶ “Call together all the elders of Israel,” God instructed him, “and tell them about Jehovah appearing to you here in this burning bush and that he said to you, ‘I have visited my people and have seen what is happening to them there in Egypt. ¹⁷ I promise to rescue them from the drudgery and humiliation they are undergoing, and to take them to the land now occupied by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, a land “flowing with milk and honey.’” ¹⁸ The elders of the people of Israel will accept your message. They must go with you to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us and instructed us to go three days’ journey into the desert to sacrifice to him. Give us your permission.’

¹⁹ “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go except under heavy pressure. ²⁰ So I will give him all the pressure he needs! I will destroy Egypt with my miracles, and then at last he will let you go. ²¹ And I will see to it that the Egyptians load you down with gifts when you leave, so that you will by no means go out empty-handed! ²² Every woman will ask for jewels, silver, gold, and the finest of clothes from her Egyptian master’s wife and neighbors. You will clothe your sons and daughters with the best of Egypt!”

4 But Moses said, “They won’t believe me! They won’t do what I tell them to. They’ll say, ‘Jehovah never appeared to you!’”

² “What do you have there in your hand?” the Lord asked him.

And he replied, “A shepherd’s rod.”

³ “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So he threw it down—and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it!

⁴ Then the Lord told him, “Grab it by the tail!” He did, and it became a rod in his hand again!

⁵ “Do that and they will believe you!” the Lord told him. “Then they will realize that Jehovah, the God of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has really appeared to you. ⁶ Now reach your hand inside your robe, next to your chest.” And when he did, and took it out again, it was white with leprosy! ⁷ “Now put it in again,” Jehovah said. And when he did, and took it out again, it was normal, just as before!

⁸ “If they don’t believe the first miracle, they will the second,” the Lord said, ⁹ “and if they don’t accept you after these two signs, then take water from the Nile River and pour it upon the dry land, and it will turn to blood.”

¹⁰ But Moses pleaded, “O Lord, I’m just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I’m not now, even after you have spoken to me, for I have a speech impediment.”^[j]

¹¹ “Who makes mouths?” Jehovah asked him. “Isn’t it I, the Lord? Who makes a man so that he can speak or not speak, see or not see, hear or not hear? ¹² Now go ahead and do as I tell you, for I will help you to speak well, and I will tell you what to say.”

¹³ But Moses said, “Lord, please! Send someone else.”

¹⁴ Then the Lord became angry. “All right,” he said, “your brother, Aaron,^[k] is a good speaker. And he is coming here to look for you and will be very happy when he finds you. ¹⁵ So I will tell you what to tell him, and I will help both of you to speak well, and I will tell you what to do. ¹⁶ He will be your spokesman to the people. And you will be as God to him, telling him what to say. ¹⁷ And be sure to take your rod along so that you can perform the miracles I have shown you.”

¹⁸ Moses returned home and talked it over with Jethro, his father-in-law. “With your permission,” Moses said, “I will go back to Egypt and visit my relatives. I don’t even know whether they are still alive.”

“Go with my blessing,” Jethro replied.

¹⁹ Before Moses left Midian, Jehovah said to him, “Don’t be afraid to return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.”

²⁰ So Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt, holding tightly to the “rod of God”!

²¹ Jehovah told him, “When you arrive back in Egypt you are to go to Pharaoh and do the miracles I have shown you, but I will make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you are to tell him, ‘Jehovah says, “Israel is my eldest son, ²³ and I have commanded you to let him go away and worship me, but you have refused: and now see, I will slay your eldest son.”’”

²⁴ As Moses and his family were traveling along and had stopped for the night, Jehovah appeared to Moses and threatened to kill him. ^25-26 Then Zipporah his wife took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her young son’s penis, and threw it against Moses’ feet, remarking disgustedly, “What a blood-smeared husband you’ve turned out to be!”

Then God left him alone.

²⁷ Now Jehovah said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So Aaron traveled to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, and met Moses there, and they greeted each other warmly. ²⁸ Moses told Aaron what God had said they must do, and what they were to say, and told him about the miracles they must do before Pharaoh.

²⁹ So Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and summoned the elders of the people of Israel to a council meeting. ³⁰ Aaron told them what Jehovah had said to Moses, and Moses performed the miracles as they watched. ³¹ Then the elders believed that God had sent them, and when they heard that Jehovah had visited them and had seen their sorrows, and had decided to rescue them, they all rejoiced and bowed their heads and worshiped.

5 After this presentation to the elders, Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They told him, “We bring you a message from Jehovah, the God of Israel. He says, ‘Let my people go, for they must make a holy pilgrimage out into the wilderness, for a religious feast, to worship me there.’”

² “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is Jehovah, that I should listen to him, and let Israel go? I don’t know Jehovah and I will not let Israel go.”

³ But Aaron and Moses persisted. “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they declared. “We must take a three days’ trip into the wilderness and sacrifice there to Jehovah our God; if we don’t obey him, we face death by plague or sword.”

^4-5 “Who do you think you are,” Pharaoh shouted, “distracting the people from their work? Get back to your jobs!” ⁶ That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the taskmasters and officers he had set over the people of Israel: ^7-8 “Don’t give the people any more straw for making bricks! However, don’t reduce their production quotas by a single brick, for they obviously don’t have enough to do or else they wouldn’t be talking about going out into the wilderness and sacrificing to their God. ⁹ Load them with work and make them sweat; that will teach them to listen to Moses’ and Aaron’s lies!”

^10-11 So the taskmasters and officers informed the people: “Pharaoh has given orders to furnish you with no more straw. Go and find it wherever you can; but you must produce just as many bricks as before!” ¹² So the people scattered everywhere to gather straw.

¹³ The taskmasters were brutal. “Fulfill your daily quota just as before,” they kept demanding. ¹⁴ Then they whipped the Israeli work-crew bosses. “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quotas either yesterday or today?” they roared.

¹⁵ These foremen went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. “Don’t treat us like this,” they begged. ¹⁶ “We are given no straw and told to make as many bricks as before, and we are beaten for something that isn’t our fault—it is the fault of your taskmasters for making such unreasonable demands.”

¹⁷ But Pharaoh replied, “You don’t have enough work, or else you wouldn’t be saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah.’ ¹⁸ Get back to work. No straw will be given you, and you must deliver the regular quota of bricks.”

¹⁹ Then the foremen saw that they were indeed in a bad situation. ²⁰ When they met Moses and Aaron waiting for them outside the palace, as they came out from their meeting with Pharaoh, ²¹ they swore at them. “May God judge you for making us stink before Pharaoh and his people,” they said, “and for giving them an excuse to kill us.”

²² Then Moses went back to the Lord. “Lord,” he protested, “how can you mistreat your own people like this? Why did you ever send me if you were going to do this to them? ²³ Ever since I gave Pharaoh your message, he has only been more and more brutal to them, and you have not delivered them at all!”

6 “Now you will see what I shall do to Pharaoh,” the Lord told Moses. “For he must be forced to let my people go; he will not only let them go, but will drive them out of his land! ^2-3 I am Jehovah, the Almighty God who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—though I did not reveal my name, Jehovah, to them. ⁴ And I entered into a solemn covenant with them; under its terms I promised to give them and their descendants the land of Canaan where they were living. ⁵ And now I have heard the groanings of the people of Israel, in slavery now to the Egyptians, and I remember my promise.

⁶ “Therefore tell the descendants of Israel that I will use my mighty power and perform great miracles to deliver them from slavery and make them free. ⁷ And I will accept them as my people and be their God. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God who has rescued them from the Egyptians. ^8-9 I will bring them into the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It shall belong to my people.”

So Moses told the people what God had said, but they wouldn’t listen anymore because they were too dispirited after the tragic consequence of what he had said before.^[l]

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke to Moses again and told him, ¹¹ “Go back again to Pharaoh and tell him that he must let the people of Israel go.”

¹² “But look,” Moses objected, “my own people won’t even listen to me anymore; how can I expect Pharaoh to? I’m no orator!”

¹³ Then the Lord ordered Moses and Aaron to return to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, demanding that the people be permitted to leave.

¹⁴ These are the names of the heads of the clans of the various tribes of Israel:

The sons of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi.

¹⁵ The heads of the clans of the tribe of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, Shaul (whose mother was a Canaanite).

¹⁶ These are the names of the heads of the clans of the tribe of Levi, in the order of their ages:^[m] Gershon, Kohath, Merari. (Levi lived 137 years.)

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon were: Libni, Shime-i (and their clans).

¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel. (Kohath lived 133 years.)

¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli, Mushi.

The above are the families of the Levites, listed according to their ages.

²⁰ And Amram^[n] married Jochebed, his father’s sister; and Aaron and Moses were their sons.

Amram lived to the age of 137.

²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, Zichri.

²² The sons of Uzziel: Misha-el, Elzaphan, Sithri.

²³ Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon. Their children were: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar.

²⁴ The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, Abiasaph.

These are the families within the clan of Korah.

²⁵ Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Puti-el, and Phinehas was one of his children. These are all the names of the heads of the clans of the Levites and the families within the clans.

²⁶ Aaron and Moses, included in that list, are the same Aaron and Moses to whom Jehovah said, “Lead all the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” ²⁷ and who went to Pharaoh to ask permission to lead the people from the land, ^28-29 and to whom the Lord said, “I am Jehovah. Go in and give Pharaoh the message I have given you.”

³⁰ This is that Moses who argued with the Lord, “I can’t do it; I’m no speaker—why should Pharaoh listen to me?”

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have appointed you as my ambassador to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, shall be your spokesman. ² Tell Aaron everything I say to you, and he will announce it to Pharaoh, demanding that the people of Israel be allowed to leave Egypt. ³ But I will cause Pharaoh to stubbornly refuse, and I will multiply my miracles in the land of Egypt. ⁴ Yet even then Pharaoh won’t listen to you; so I will crush Egypt with a final major disaster and then lead my people out. ⁵ The Egyptians will find out that I am indeed God when I show them my power and force them to let my people go.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three at this time of their confrontation with Pharaoh.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “Pharaoh will demand that you show him a miracle to prove that God has sent you; when he does, Aaron is to throw down his rod, and it will become a serpent.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went in to see Pharaoh, and performed the miracle, as Jehovah had instructed them—Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh and his court, and it became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh called in his sorcerers—the magicians of Egypt—and they were able to do the same thing with their magical arts! ¹² Their rods became serpents, too! But Aaron’s serpent swallowed their serpents! ¹³ Pharaoh’s heart was still hard and stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen, just as the Lord had predicted. ¹⁴ The Lord pointed this out to Moses, that Pharaoh’s heart had been unmoved, and that he would continue to refuse to let the people go.

¹⁵ “Nevertheless,” the Lord said, “go back to Pharaoh in the morning, to be there as he goes down to the river. Stand beside the riverbank and meet him there, holding in your hand the rod that turned into a serpent. ¹⁶ Say to him, ‘Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me back to demand that you let his people go to worship him in the wilderness. You wouldn’t listen before, ¹⁷ and now the Lord says this: “You are going to find out that I am God. For I have instructed Moses to hit the water of the Nile with his rod, and the river will turn to blood! ¹⁸ The fish will die and the river will stink, so that the Egyptians will be unwilling to drink it.”’”

¹⁹ Then the Lord instructed Moses: “Tell Aaron to point his rod toward the waters of Egypt: all its rivers, canals, marshes, and reservoirs, and even the water stored in bowls and pots in the homes will turn to blood.”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron hit the surface of the Nile with the rod, and the river turned to blood. ²¹ The fish died and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it; and there was blood throughout the land of Egypt. ²² But then the magicians of Egypt used their secret arts and they, too, turned water into blood; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hard and stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted, ²³ and he returned to his palace, unimpressed. ²⁴ Then the Egyptians dug wells along the riverbank to get drinking water, for they couldn’t drink from the river.

²⁵ A week went by.

8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in again to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Jehovah says, “Let my people go and worship me. ² If you refuse, I will send vast hordes of frogs across your land from one border to the other. ^3-4 The Nile River will swarm with them, and they will come out into your houses, even into your bedrooms and right into your beds! Every home in Egypt will be filled with them. They will fill your ovens and your kneading bowls; you and your people will be immersed in them!”’”

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Instruct Aaron to point the rod toward all the rivers, streams, and pools of Egypt, so that there will be frogs in every corner of the land.” ⁶ Aaron did, and frogs covered the nation. ⁷ But the magicians did the same with their secret arts, and they, too, caused frogs to come up on the land.

⁸ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with God to take the frogs away, and I will let the people go and sacrifice to him.”

⁹ “Be so kind as to tell me when you want them to go,” Moses said, “and I will pray that the frogs will die at the time you specify, everywhere except in the river.”

¹⁰ “Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.

“All right,” Moses replied, “it shall be as you have said; then you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ All the frogs will be destroyed, except those in the river.”

¹² So Moses and Aaron went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and Moses pleaded with the Lord concerning the frogs he had sent. ¹³ And the Lord did as Moses promised—dead frogs covered the countryside and filled the nation’s homes. ¹⁴ They were piled into great heaps, making a terrible stench throughout the land. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were gone, he hardened his heart and refused to let the people go, just as the Lord had predicted.

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to strike the dust with his rod, and it will become lice, throughout all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁷ So Moses and Aaron did as God commanded, and suddenly lice infested the entire nation, covering the Egyptians and their animals. ¹⁸ Then the magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed.

¹⁹ “This is the finger of God,” they exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

²⁰ Next the Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning and meet Pharaoh as he comes out to the river to bathe, and say to him, ‘Jehovah says, “Let my people go and worship me. ²¹ If you refuse I will send swarms of flies throughout Egypt. Your homes will be filled with them and the ground will be covered with them. ²² But it will be very different in the land of Goshen where the Israelis live. No flies will be there; thus you will know that I am the Lord God of all the earth, ²³ for I will make a distinction between your people and my people. All this will happen tomorrow.”’”

²⁴ And Jehovah did as he had said, so that there were terrible swarms of flies in Pharaoh’s palace and in every home in Egypt.

²⁵ Pharaoh hastily summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “All right, go ahead and sacrifice to your God, but do it here in the land. Don’t go out into the wilderness.”

²⁶ But Moses replied, “That won’t do! Our sacrifices to God are hated by the Egyptians, and if we do this right here before their eyes, they will kill us. ²⁷ We must take a three-day trip into the wilderness and sacrifice there to Jehovah our God, as he commanded us.”

²⁸ “All right, go ahead,” Pharaoh replied, “but don’t go too far away. Now, hurry and plead with God for me.”

²⁹ “Yes,” Moses said, “I will ask him to cause the swarms of flies to disappear. But I am warning you that you must never again lie to us by promising to let the people go and then changing your mind.”

³⁰ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and asked the Lord to get rid of the flies. ^31-32 And the Lord did as Moses asked and caused the swarms to disappear, so that not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart again and did not let the people go!

9 “Go back to Pharaoh,” the Lord commanded Moses, “and tell him, ‘Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, demands that you let his people go to sacrifice to him. ² If you refuse, ³ the power of God will send a deadly plague to destroy your cattle, horses, donkeys, camels, flocks, and herds. ⁴ But the plague will affect only the cattle of Egypt; none of the Israeli herds and flocks will even be touched!’”

⁵ The Lord announced that the plague would begin the very next day, ⁶ and it did. The next morning all the cattle of the Egyptians began dying, but not one of the Israeli herds was even sick. ⁷ Pharaoh sent to see whether it was true that none of the Israeli cattle were dead, yet when he found out that it was so, even then his mind remained unchanged and he refused to let the people go.

⁸ Then Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, “Take ashes from the kiln and have Moses toss them into the sky as Pharaoh watches. ⁹ They will spread like fine dust over all the land of Egypt and cause boils to break out upon people and animals alike, throughout the land.”

¹⁰ So they took ashes from the kiln and went to Pharaoh; as he watched, Moses tossed them toward the sky, and they became boils that broke out on men and animals alike throughout all Egypt. ¹¹ And the magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils appeared upon them too. ¹² But Jehovah hardened Pharaoh in his stubbornness, so that he refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted to Moses.

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Jehovah the God of the Hebrews says, “Let my people go to worship me. ¹⁴ This time I am going to send a plague that will really speak to you and to your servants and to all the Egyptian people, and prove to you there is no other God in all the earth. ¹⁵ I could have killed you all by now, ¹⁶ but I didn’t, for I wanted to demonstrate my power to you and to all the earth. ¹⁷ So you still think you are so great, do you, and defy my power, and refuse to let my people go? ¹⁸ Well, tomorrow about this time I will send a hailstorm across the nation such as there has never been since Egypt was founded! ¹⁹ Quick! Bring in your cattle from the fields, for every man and animal left out in the fields will die beneath the hail!”’”

²⁰ Some of the Egyptians, terrified by this threat, brought their cattle and slaves in from the fields; ²¹ but those who had no regard for the word of Jehovah left them out in the storm.

²² Then Jehovah said to Moses, “Point your hand toward heaven and cause the hail to fall throughout all Egypt, upon the people, animals, and trees.”

²³ So Moses held out his hand, and the Lord sent thunder and hail and lightning. ²⁴ It was terrible beyond description. Never in all the history of Egypt had there been a storm like that. ²⁵ All Egypt lay in ruins. Everything left in the fields, men and animals alike, was killed, and the trees were shattered and the crops were destroyed. ²⁶ The only spot in all Egypt without hail that day was the land of Goshen where the people of Israel lived.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I finally see my fault,” he confessed. “Jehovah is right, and I and my people have been wrong all along. ²⁸ Beg God to end this terrifying thunder and hail, and I will let you go at once.”

²⁹ “All right,” Moses replied, “as soon as I have left the city I will spread out my hands to the Lord, and the thunder and hail will stop. This will prove to you that the earth is controlled by Jehovah. ³⁰ But as for you and your officials, I know that even yet you will not obey him.” ³¹ All the flax and barley were knocked down and destroyed (for the barley was ripe, and the flax was in bloom), ³² but the wheat and the emmer were not destroyed, for they were not yet out of the ground.

³³ So Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city and lifted his hands to heaven to the Lord, and the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain ceased pouring down. ³⁴ When Pharaoh saw this, he and his officials sinned yet more by their stubborn refusal to do what they had promised; ³⁵ so Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the Lord had predicted to Moses.

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go back again and make your demand upon Pharaoh; but I have hardened him and his officials, so that I can do more miracles demonstrating my power. ² What stories you can tell your children and grandchildren about the incredible things I am doing in Egypt! Tell them what fools I made of the Egyptians, and how I proved to you that I am Jehovah.”

³ So Moses and Aaron requested another audience with Pharaoh and told him: “Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, asks, ‘How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go so they can worship me. ^4-5 If you refuse, tomorrow I will cover the entire nation with a thick layer of locusts so that you won’t even be able to see the ground, and they will finish destroying everything that escaped the hail. ⁶ They will fill your palace, and the homes of your officials, and all the houses of Egypt. Never in the history of Egypt has there been a plague like this will be!’” Then Moses stalked out.

⁷ The court officials now came to Pharaoh and asked him, “Are you going to destroy us completely? Don’t you know even yet that all Egypt lies in ruins? Let the men go and serve Jehovah their God!”

⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “All right, go and serve Jehovah your God!” he said. “But just who is it you want to go?”

⁹ “We will go with our sons and daughters, flocks and herds,” Moses replied. “We will take everything with us; for we must all join in the holy pilgrimage.”

¹⁰ “In the name of God I will not let you take your little ones!” Pharaoh retorted. “I can see your plot! ¹¹ Never! You that are men, go and serve Jehovah, for that is what you asked for.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Hold out your hand over the land of Egypt to bring locusts—they will cover the land and eat everything the hail has left.”

¹³ So Moses lifted his rod and Jehovah caused an east wind to blow all that day and night; and when it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. ¹⁴ And the locusts covered the land of Egypt from border to border; it was the worst locust plague in all Egyptian history; and there will never again be another like it. ¹⁵ For the locusts covered the face of the earth and blotted out the sun so that the land was darkened; and they ate every bit of vegetation the hail had left; there remained not one green thing—not a tree, not a plant throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ Then Pharaoh sent an urgent call for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I confess my sin against Jehovah your God and against you. ¹⁷ Forgive my sin only this once, and beg Jehovah your God to take away this deadly plague. I solemnly promise that I will let you go as soon as the locusts are gone.”

¹⁸ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord, ¹⁹ and he sent a very strong west wind that blew the locusts out into the Red Sea, so that there remained not one locust in all the land of Egypt! ²⁰ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not let the people go.

²¹ Then Jehovah said to Moses, “Lift your hands to heaven, and darkness without a ray of light will descend upon the land of Egypt.” ²² So Moses did, and there was thick darkness over all the land for three days. ²³ During all that time the people scarcely moved—but all the people of Israel had light as usual.

²⁴ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and said, “Go and worship Jehovah—but let your flocks and herds stay here; you can even take your children with you.”

²⁵ “No,” Moses said, “we must take our flocks and herds for sacrifices and burnt offerings to Jehovah our God. ²⁶ Not a hoof shall be left behind; for we must have sacrifices for the Lord our God, and we do not know what he will choose until we get there.”

²⁷ So the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not let them go.

²⁸ “Get out of here and don’t let me ever see you again,” Pharaoh shouted at Moses. “The day you do, you shall die.”

²⁹ “Very well,” Moses replied. “I will never see you again.”

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will send just one more disaster on Pharaoh and his land, and after that he will let you go; in fact, he will be so anxious to get rid of you that he will practically throw you out of the country. ² Tell all the men and women of Israel to ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold and silver jewelry.”

³ (For God caused the Egyptians to be very favorable to the people of Israel, and Moses was a very great man in the land of Egypt and was revered by Pharaoh’s officials and the Egyptian people alike.)

⁴ Now Moses announced to Pharaoh,^[o] “Jehovah says, ‘About midnight I will pass through Egypt. ⁵ And all the oldest sons shall die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest child of Pharaoh, heir to his throne, to the oldest child of his lowliest slave; and even the firstborn of the animals. ⁶ The wail of death will resound throughout the entire land of Egypt; never before has there been such anguish, and it will never be again.

⁷ “‘But not a dog shall move his tongue against any of the people of Israel, nor shall any of their animals die. Then you will know that Jehovah makes a distinction between Egyptians and Israelis.’ ⁸ All these officials of yours will come running to me, bowing low and begging, ‘Please leave at once, and take all your people with you.’ Only then will I go!” Then, red-faced with anger, Moses stomped from the palace.^[p]

⁹ The Lord had told Moses, “Pharaoh won’t listen, and this will give me the opportunity of doing mighty miracles to demonstrate my power.” ¹⁰ So, although Moses and Aaron did these miracles right before Pharaoh’s eyes, the Lord hardened his heart so that he wouldn’t let the people leave the land.

12 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “From now on, this month will be the first and most important of the entire year. ^3-4 Annually, on the tenth day of this month (announce this to all the people of Israel) each family shall get a lamb^[q] (or, if a family is small, let it share the lamb with another small family in the neighborhood; whether to share in this way depends on the size of the families). ⁵ This animal shall be a year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, without any defects.

⁶ “On the evening of the fourteenth day of this month, all these lambs shall be killed, ⁷ and their blood shall be placed on the two side-frames of the door of every home and on the panel above the door. Use the blood of the lamb eaten in that home. ⁸ Everyone shall eat roast lamb that night, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹ The meat must not be eaten raw or boiled, but roasted, including the head, legs, heart, and liver.^{[r] 10} Don’t eat any of it the next day; if all is not eaten that night, burn what is left.

¹¹ “Eat it with your traveling clothes on, prepared for a long journey, wearing your walking shoes and carrying your walking sticks in your hands; eat it hurriedly. This observance shall be called the Lord’s Passover. ¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt tonight and kill all the oldest sons and firstborn male animals in all the land of Egypt, and execute judgment upon all the gods of Egypt—for I am Jehovah. ¹³ The blood you have placed on the doorposts will be proof that you obey me, and when I see the blood I will pass over you and I will not destroy your firstborn children when I smite the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “You shall celebrate this event each year (this is a permanent law) to remind you of this fatal night. ¹⁵ The celebration shall last seven days. For that entire period you are to eat only bread made without yeast. Anyone who disobeys this rule at any time during the seven days of the celebration shall be excommunicated from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day of the celebration, and again on the seventh day, there will be special religious services for the entire congregation, and no work of any kind may be done on those days except the preparation of food.

¹⁷ “This annual ‘Celebration with Unleavened Bread’ will cause you always to remember today as the day when I brought you out of the land of Egypt; so it is a law that you must celebrate this day annually, generation after generation. ¹⁸ Only bread without yeast may be eaten from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day of the month. ¹⁹ For these seven days there must be no trace of yeast in your homes; during that time anyone who eats anything that has yeast in it shall be excommunicated from the congregation of Israel. These same rules apply to foreigners who are living among you just as much as to those born in the land. ²⁰ Again I repeat, during those days you must not eat anything made with yeast; serve only yeastless bread.”

²¹ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and get lambs from your flocks, a lamb for one or more families depending upon the number of persons in the families, and kill the lamb so that God will pass over you and not destroy you. ²² Drain the lamb’s blood into a basin, and then take a cluster of hyssop branches and dip them into the lamb’s blood, and strike the hyssop against the lintel above the door and against the two side panels, so that there will be blood upon them, and none of you shall go outside all night.

²³ “For Jehovah will pass through the land and kill the Egyptians; but when he sees the blood upon the panel at the top of the door and on the two side pieces, he will pass over^[s] that home and not permit the Destroyer to enter and kill your firstborn. ²⁴ And remember, this is a permanent law for you and your posterity. ²⁵ And when you come into the land that the Lord will give you, just as he promised, and when you are celebrating the Passover, ²⁶ and your children ask, ‘What does all this mean? What is this ceremony about?’ ²⁷ you will reply, ‘It is the celebration of Jehovah’s passing over us, for he passed over the homes of the people of Israel, though he killed the Egyptians; he passed over our houses and did not come in to destroy us.’” And all the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

²⁸ So the people of Israel did as Moses and Aaron had commanded. ²⁹ And that night, at midnight, Jehovah killed all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from Pharaoh’s oldest son to the oldest son of the captive in the dungeon; also all the firstborn of the cattle. ³⁰ Then Pharaoh and his officials and all the people of Egypt got up in the night; and there was bitter crying throughout all the land of Egypt, for there was not a house where someone had not died.

³¹ And Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, “Leave us; please go away, all of you; go and serve Jehovah as you said. ³² Take your flocks and herds and be gone; and oh, give me a blessing as you go.”^{[t] 33} And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people of Israel, to get them out of the land as quickly as possible. For they said, “We are as good as dead.”

³⁴ The Israelis took with them their bread dough without yeast, and bound their kneading troughs into their spare clothes, and carried them on their shoulders. ³⁵ And the people of Israel did as Moses said and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. ³⁶ And the Lord gave the Israelis favor with the Egyptians, so that they gave them whatever they wanted. And the Egyptians were practically stripped of everything they owned!

³⁷ That night the people of Israel left Rameses and started for Succoth; there were six hundred thousand of them, besides all the women and children, going on foot. ³⁸ People of various sorts^[u] went with them; and there were flocks and herds—a vast exodus of cattle. ³⁹ When they stopped to eat, they baked bread from the yeastless dough they had brought along. It was yeastless because the people were pushed out of Egypt and didn’t have time to wait for bread to rise to take with them on the trip.

^40-41 The sons of Jacob and their descendants had lived in Egypt 430 years, and it was on the last day of the 430th year that all of Jehovah’s people left the land. ⁴² This night was selected by the Lord to bring his people out from the land of Egypt; so the same night was selected as the date of the annual celebration of God’s deliverance.

⁴³ Then Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the rules concerning the observance of the Passover. No foreigners shall eat the lamb, ⁴⁴ but any slave who has been purchased may eat it if he has been circumcised. ⁴⁵ A hired servant or a visiting foreigner may not eat of it. ⁴⁶ You shall, all of you who eat each lamb, eat it together in one house, and not carry it outside; and you shall not break any of its bones. ⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall observe this memorial at the same time.

⁴⁸ “As to foreigners, if they are living with you and want to observe the Passover with you, let all the males be circumcised, and then they may come and celebrate with you—then they shall be just as though they had been born among you; but no uncircumcised person shall ever eat the lamb. ⁴⁹ The same law applies to those born in Israel and to foreigners living among you.”

⁵⁰ So the people of Israel followed all of Jehovah’s instructions to Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ That very day the Lord brought out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt, wave after wave of them crossing the border.^[v]

13 ^1-2 The Lord instructed Moses, “Dedicate to me all of the firstborn sons^[w] of Israel, and every firstborn male animal; they are mine!”

³ Then Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever—the day of leaving Egypt and your slavery; for the Lord has brought you out with mighty miracles. Now remember, during the annual celebration of this event you are to use no yeast; don’t even have any in your homes. ^4-5 Celebrate this day of your exodus, at the end of March^[x] each year, when Jehovah brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the land he promised your fathers, a land ‘flowing with milk and honey.’ ^6-7 For seven days you shall eat only bread without yeast, and there must be no yeast in your homes or anywhere within the borders of your land! Then, on the seventh day, a great feast to the Lord shall be held.

⁸ “During those celebration days each year you must explain to your children why you are celebrating—it is a celebration of what the Lord did for you when you left Egypt. ⁹ This annual memorial week will brand you as his own unique people, just as though he had branded his mark of ownership upon your hands or your forehead.

¹⁰ “So celebrate the event annually in late March.^{[y] 11} And remember, when the Lord brings you into the land he promised to your ancestors long ago, where the Canaanites are now living, ¹² all firstborn sons and firstborn male animals belong to the Lord, and you shall give them to him. ¹³ A firstborn donkey may be purchased back from the Lord in exchange for a lamb or baby goat; but if you decide not to trade, the donkey shall be killed. However, you must buy back your firstborn sons.

¹⁴ “And in the future, when your children ask you, ‘What is this all about?’ you shall tell them, ‘With mighty miracles Jehovah brought us out of Egypt from our slavery. ¹⁵ Pharaoh wouldn’t let us go, so Jehovah killed all the firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt, both of men and animals; that is why we now give all the firstborn males to the Lord—except that all the eldest sons are always bought back.’ ¹⁶ Again I say, this celebration shall identify you as God’s people, just as much as if his brand of ownership were placed upon your foreheads. It is a reminder that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with great power.”

^17-18 So at last Pharaoh let the people go.

God did not lead them through the land of the Philistines, although that was the most direct route from Egypt to the Promised Land. The reason was that God felt the people might become discouraged by having to fight their way through, even though they had left Egypt armed; he thought they might return to Egypt. Instead, God led them along a route through the Red Sea wilderness.

¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with them, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel vow before God that they would take his bones with them when God led them out of Egypt—as he was sure God would.

²⁰ Leaving Succoth, they camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ The Lord guided them by a pillar of cloud during the daytime and by a pillar of fire at night. So they could travel either by day or night. ²² The cloud and fire were never out of sight.

14 Jehovah now instructed Moses, ² “Tell the people to turn toward Piha-hiroth between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon, and to camp there along the shore. ³ For Pharaoh will think, ‘Those Israelites are trapped now, between the desert and the sea!’ ⁴ And once again I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and he will chase after you. I have planned this to gain great honor and glory over Pharaoh and all his armies, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.”

So they camped where they were told.

⁵ When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelis were not planning to return to Egypt after three days, but to keep on going, Pharaoh and his staff became bold again. “What is this we have done, letting all these slaves get away?” they asked. ⁶ So Pharaoh led the chase in his chariot, ⁷ followed by the pick of Egypt’s chariot corps—600 chariots in all—and other chariots driven by Egyptian officers. ⁸ He pursued the people of Israel, for they had taken much of the wealth of Egypt with them. ⁹ Pharaoh’s entire cavalry—horses, chariots, and charioteers—was used in the chase; and the Egyptian army overtook the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Piha-hiroth, across from Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ As the Egyptian army approached, the people of Israel saw them far in the distance, speeding after them, and they were terribly frightened and cried out to the Lord to help them.

¹¹ And they turned against Moses, whining, “Have you brought us out here to die in the desert because there were not enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave Egypt? ¹² Isn’t this what we told you, while we were slaves, to leave us alone? We said it would be better to be slaves to the Egyptians than dead in the wilderness.”

¹³ But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch, and you will see the wonderful way the Lord will rescue you today. The Egyptians you are looking at—you will never see them again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t need to lift a finger!”^[z]

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Quit praying and get the people moving! Forward, march! ¹⁶ Use your rod—hold it out over the water, and the sea will open up a path before you, and all the people of Israel shall walk through on dry ground! ¹⁷ I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in after you and you will see the honor I will get in defeating Pharaoh and all his armies, chariots, and horsemen. ¹⁸ And all Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah.”

¹⁹ Then the Angel of God, who was leading the people of Israel, moved the cloud around behind them, ²⁰ and it stood between the people of Israel and the Egyptians. And that night, as it changed to a pillar of fire, it gave darkness to the Egyptians but light to the people of Israel! So the Egyptians couldn’t find the Israelis!

²¹ Meanwhile, Moses stretched his rod over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the sea, with walls of water on each side; and a strong east wind blew all that night, drying the sea bottom. ²² So the people of Israel walked through the sea on dry ground! ²³ Then the Egyptians followed them between the walls of water along the bottom of the sea—all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen. ²⁴ But in the early morning Jehovah looked down from the cloud of fire upon the array of the Egyptians, and began to harass them. ²⁵ Their chariot wheels began coming off, so that their chariots scraped along the dry ground. “Let’s get out of here,” the Egyptians yelled. “Jehovah is fighting for them and against us.”

²⁶ When all the Israelites were on the other side,^[aa] the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand again over the sea, so that the waters will come back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses did, and the sea returned to normal beneath the morning light. The Egyptians tried to flee, but the Lord drowned them in the sea. ²⁸ The water covered the path and the chariots and horsemen. And of all the army of Pharaoh that chased after Israel through the sea, not one remained alive.

²⁹ The people of Israel had walked through on dry land, and the waters had been walled up on either side of them. ³⁰ Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and the people of Israel saw the Egyptians dead, washed up on the seashore. ³¹ When the people of Israel saw the mighty miracle the Lord had done for them against the Egyptians, they were afraid and revered the Lord, and believed in him and in his servant Moses.

15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord: