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The Locusts
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh. I have made him and his officials stubborn. I did this so that I could show them my powerful miracles. 2 I also did this so that you could tell your children and your grandchildren about the miracles and other wonderful things that I have done in Egypt. Then all of you will know that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They told him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews,[a] says, ‘How long will you refuse to obey me? Let my people go to worship me! 4 If you refuse to let my people go, then tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. 5 The locusts will cover the land. There will be so many locusts that you will not be able to see the ground. Anything that was left from the hailstorm will be eaten by the locusts. The locusts will eat all the leaves from every tree in the field. 6 They will fill all your houses, and all your officials’ houses, and all the houses in Egypt. There will be more locusts than your fathers or your grandfathers have ever seen. There will be more locusts than there have ever been since people began living in Egypt.’” Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
7 Then the officials asked Pharaoh, “How long will we be trapped by these people? Let the men go to worship the Lord their God. If you don’t let them go, before you know it, Egypt will be destroyed!”
8 So Pharaoh told his officials to bring Moses and Aaron back to him. Pharaoh said to them, “Go and worship the Lord your God. But tell me, just who is going?”
9 Moses answered, “All of our people, young and old, will go. And we will take our sons and daughters, and our sheep and cattle with us. We will all go because the Lord’s festival is for all of us.”
10 Pharaoh said to them, “The Lord really will have to be with you before I let you and all of your children leave Egypt. Look, you are planning something evil. 11 The men can go worship the Lord. That is what you asked for in the beginning. But all of your people cannot go.” Then Pharaoh sent Moses and Aaron away.
12 The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt and the locusts will come! They will spread all over the land of Egypt and will eat all the plants that the hail did not destroy.”
13 So Moses raised his walking stick over the land of Egypt, and the Lord caused a strong wind to blow from the east. The wind blew all that day and night. When morning came, the wind had brought the locusts to the land of Egypt. 14 The locusts flew into the country of Egypt and landed on the ground. There were more locusts than there had ever been in Egypt. And there will never again be that many locusts there. 15 They covered the ground, and the whole country became dark. The locusts ate every plant on the ground and all the fruit in the trees that the hail had not destroyed. There were no leaves left on any of the trees or plants anywhere in Egypt.
16 Pharaoh quickly called for Moses and Aaron. Pharaoh said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now, forgive me for my sins this time. Ask the Lord to remove this ‘death’ from me.”
18 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 19 So the Lord changed the wind. He made a very strong wind blow from the west, and it blew the locusts out of Egypt and into the Red Sea.[b] Not one locust was left in Egypt! 20 But the Lord caused Pharaoh to be stubborn again, and Pharaoh did not let the Israelites go.
The Darkness
21 Then the Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand into the air and darkness will cover Egypt. It will be so dark you can feel it!”
22 So Moses raised his hand into the air and a cloud of darkness covered Egypt. The darkness stayed in Egypt for three days. 23 None of the people could see each other, and no one got up to go any place for three days. But there was light in all the places where the Israelites lived.
24 Again Pharaoh called for Moses. He said, “Go and worship the Lord! You can take your children with you. But you must leave your sheep and cattle here.”
25 Moses said, “No, we will take them all. In fact, you will give us offerings and sacrifices for us to use in worshiping the Lord our God. 26 Yes, we will take our animals with us to worship the Lord our God. Not one hoof will be left behind. We don’t know yet exactly what we will need to worship the Lord. We will learn that only when we get there.”
27 The Lord made Pharaoh stubborn again, so he refused to let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh told Moses, “Get out of here. I don’t want you to come here again. The next time you come to see me, you will die!”
29 Then Moses told Pharaoh, “You are right about one thing. I will not come to see you again.”
The Death of the Firstborn
11 Then the Lord told Moses, “I have one more disaster to bring against Pharaoh and Egypt. After this, he will ask you to leave Egypt. In fact, he will force you to leave this country. 2 You must give this message to the Israelites: ‘Men and women, you must ask your neighbors to give you things made of silver and gold.’” 3 The Lord caused the Egyptians to be kind to the Israelites. The Egyptians, even Pharaoh’s own officials, already considered Moses to be a great man.
4 Moses said to the king, “The Lord says, ‘At midnight tonight, I will go through Egypt, 5 and every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, to the firstborn son of the slave girl grinding grain. Even the firstborn animals will die. 6 The crying in Egypt will be worse than at any time in the past or any time in the future. 7 But none of the Israelites or their animals will be hurt—not even a dog will bark at them.’ Then you will know that the Lord has treated Israel differently from Egypt. 8 All these officials of yours will come down and bow to me. They will say, ‘Leave and take all your people with you.’ Only then will I leave!” Then in anger, Moses left the meeting with Pharaoh.
9 Then the Lord told Moses, “The reason Pharaoh did not listen to you is so that I could show my great power in Egypt.” 10 That is why Moses and Aaron did all these great miracles in front of Pharaoh. And that is why the Lord made Pharaoh so stubborn that he would not let the Israelites leave his country.
Passover
12 While Moses and Aaron were still in Egypt, the Lord spoke to them. He said, 2 “This month[c] will be the first month of the year for you. 3 This command is for the whole community of Israel: On the tenth day of this month each man must get one lamb for the people in his house. 4 If there are not enough people in his house to eat a whole lamb, then he should invite some of his neighbors to share the meal. There must be enough lamb for everyone to eat. 5 The lamb must be a one-year-old male, and it must be completely healthy. This animal can be either a young sheep or a young goat. 6 You should watch over the animal until the 14th day of the month. On that day all the people of the community of Israel must kill these animals just before dark. 7 You must collect the blood from these animals and put it on the top and sides of the doorframe of every house where the people eat this meal.
8 “On this night you must roast the lamb and eat all the meat. You must also eat bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. 9 You must not eat the lamb raw or boiled in water. You must roast the whole lamb over a fire. The lamb must still have its head, legs, and inner parts. 10 You must eat all the meat that night. If any of the meat is left until morning, you must burn it in the fire.
11 “When you eat the meal, you must be fully dressed and ready to travel. You must have your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. You must eat in a hurry, because this is the Lord’s Passover.
12 “Tonight I will go through Egypt and kill every firstborn man and animal in Egypt. In this way I will judge all the gods of Egypt and show that I am the Lord. 13 But the blood on your houses will be a special sign. When I see the blood, I will pass over[d] your house. I will cause bad things to happen to the people of Egypt. But none of these bad diseases will hurt you.
Jesus Uses a Story About Farm Workers
20 “God’s kingdom is like a man who owned some land. One morning, the man went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the workers one silver coin for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work.
3 “About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there. They were doing nothing. 4 So he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my field, I will pay you what your work is worth.’ 5 So they went to work in the vineyard.
“The man went out again about twelve o’clock and again at three o’clock. Both times he hired some others to work in his vineyard. 6 About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again. He saw some other people standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’
7 “They said, ‘No one gave us a job.’
“The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “At the end of the day, the owner of the field said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them all. Start by paying the last people I hired. Then pay all of them, ending with the ones I hired first.’
9 “The workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay. Each worker got one silver coin. 10 Then the workers who were hired first came to get their pay. They thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one silver coin. 11 When they got their silver coin, they complained to the man who owned the land. 12 They said, ‘Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as us. And we worked hard all day in the hot sun.’
13 “But the man who owned the field said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am being fair with you. You agreed to work for one silver coin. Right? 14 So take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same pay I gave you. 15 I can do what I want with my own money. Why would you be jealous because I am generous?’
16 “So those who are last now will be first in the future. And those who are first now will be last in the future.”
Jesus Talks Again About His Death(A)
17 Jesus was going to Jerusalem. His twelve followers were with him. While they were walking, he gathered the followers together and spoke to them privately. He said to them, 18 “We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law, and they will say he must die. 19 They will hand him over to the foreigners, who will laugh at him and beat him with whips, and then they will kill him on a cross. But on the third day after his death, he will be raised to life again.”
A Mother Asks a Special Favor(B)
20 Then Zebedee’s wife came to Jesus and brought her sons. She bowed before Jesus and asked him to do something for her.
21 Jesus said, “What do you want?”
She said, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right side in your kingdom and the other at your left.”
22 So Jesus said to the sons, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink from the cup[a] that I must drink from?”
The sons answered, “Yes, we can!”
23 Jesus said to them, “It is true that you will drink from the cup that I drink from. But it is not for me to say who will sit at my right or my left. My Father has decided who will do that. He has prepared those places for them.”
24 The other ten followers heard this and were angry with the two brothers. 25 So Jesus called the followers together. He said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority over the people. 26 But it should not be that way with you. Whoever wants to be your leader must be your servant. 27 Whoever wants to be first must serve the rest of you like a slave. 28 Do as I did: The Son of Man did not come for people to serve him. He came to serve others and to give his life to save many people.”
[a] A song of David.
25 Lord, I put my life in your hands.[b]
2 I trust in you, my God,
and I will not be disappointed.
My enemies will not laugh at me.
3 No one who trusts in you will be disappointed.
But disappointment will come to those who try to deceive others.
They will get nothing.
4 Lord, help me learn your ways.
Show me how you want me to live.
5 Guide me and teach me your truths.
You are my God, my Savior.
You are the one I have been waiting for.
6 Remember to be kind to me, Lord.
Show me the tender love that you have always had.
7 Don’t remember the sinful things I did when I was young.
Because you are good, Lord, remember me with your faithful love.
8 The Lord is good and does what is right.
He shows sinners the right way to live.
9 He teaches his ways to humble people.
He leads them with fairness.
10 The Lord is kind and true to those
who obey what he said in his agreement.
11 Lord, I have done many wrong things.
But I ask you to forgive them all to show your goodness.
12 When people choose to follow the Lord,
he shows them the best way to live.
13 They will enjoy good things,
and their children will get the land God promised.
14 The Lord tells his secrets to his followers.
He teaches them about his agreement.
15 I always look to the Lord for help.
Only he can free me from my troubles.[c]
The Dangers of Being Lazy
6 You lazy people, you should watch what the ants do and learn from them. 7 Ants have no ruler, no boss, and no leader. 8 But in the summer, ants gather all of their food and save it. So when winter comes, there is plenty to eat.
9 You lazy people, how long are you going to lie there? When will you get up? 10 You say, “I need a rest. I think I’ll take a short nap.” 11 But then you sleep and sleep and become poorer and poorer. Soon you will have nothing. It will be as if a thief came and stole everything you owned.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International