The Daily Audio Bible

4 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee. ² And Jehovah said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod. ³ And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a ^[a]serpent; and Moses fled from before it. ⁴ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail (and he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand); ⁵ that they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. ⁶ And Jehovah said furthermore unto him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. ⁷ And he said, Put thy hand into thy bosom again. (And he put his hand into his bosom again; and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.) ⁸ And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. ⁹ And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.

¹⁰ And Moses said unto Jehovah, Oh, Lord, I am not ^[b]eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. ¹¹ And Jehovah said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah? ¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak. ¹³ And he said, Oh, Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. ¹⁴ And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. ¹⁶ And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him as God. ¹⁷ And thou shalt take in thy hand this rod, wherewith thou shalt do the signs. ¹⁸ And Moses went and returned to ^[c]Jethro his father-in-law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren that are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. ¹⁹ And Jehovah said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead that sought thy life. ²⁰ And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. ²¹ And Jehovah said unto Moses, When thou goest back into Egypt, see that thou do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in thy hand: but I will ^[d]harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. ²² And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, Israel is my son, my first-born: ²³ and I have said unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me; and thou hast refused to let him go: behold, I will slay thy son, thy first-born. ²⁴ And it came to pass on the way at the lodging-place, that Jehovah met him, and sought to kill him. ²⁵ Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and ^[e]cast it at his feet; and she said, Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me. ²⁶ So he let him alone. Then she said, ^[f]A bridegroom of blood art thou, because of the circumcision.

²⁷ And Jehovah said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ And Moses told Aaron all the words of Jehovah wherewith he had sent him, and all the signs wherewith he had charged him. ²⁹ And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: ³⁰ and Aaron spake all the words which Jehovah had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ And the people believed: and when they heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

5 And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. ² And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go. ³ And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto Jehovah our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. ⁴ And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. ⁵ And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. ⁶ And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, ⁷ Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ And the number of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. ⁹ Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard lying words.

¹⁰ And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it; for nought of your work shall be diminished. ¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ And the taskmasters were urgent, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. ¹⁴ And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, ^[g]and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task both yesterday and to-day, in making brick as heretofore?

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. ¹⁷ But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah. ¹⁸ Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the number of bricks. ¹⁹ And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they ^[h]were in evil case, when it was said, Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, your daily tasks. ²⁰ And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: ²¹ and they said unto them, Jehovah look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

18 In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is ^[a]greatest in the kingdom of heaven? ² And he called to him a little child, and set him in the midst of them, ³ and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the ^[b]greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me: ⁶ but whoso shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it is profitable for him that ^[c]a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depth of the sea.

⁷ Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh! ⁸ And if thy hand or thy foot causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: it is good for thee to enter into life maimed or halt, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire. ⁹ And if thine eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is good for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the ^[d]hell of fire. ¹⁰ See that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.^{[e] 12} How think ye? if any man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and go unto the mountains, and seek that which goeth astray? ¹³ And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth over it more than over the ninety and nine which have not gone astray. ¹⁴ Even so it is not ^[f]the will of ^[g]your Father who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

¹⁵ And if thy brother sin ^[h]against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. ¹⁶ But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established. ¹⁷ And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the ^[i]church: and if he refuse to hear the ^[j]church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the ^[k]publican. ¹⁸ Verily I say unto you, What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it ^[l]shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.