Day 105 of 365

¹Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God's mountain, to Horeb.

²The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

³Moses said, "I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."

⁴When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Here I am."

⁵He said, "Do not come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground."

⁶Moreover he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷The Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

⁸I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

⁹Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

¹⁰Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

¹¹Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

¹²He said, "Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

¹³Moses said to God, "Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you;' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What should I tell them?"

¹⁴God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," and he said, "You shall tell the children of Israel this: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

¹⁵God said moreover to Moses, "You shall tell the children of Israel this, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.

¹⁶Go, and gather the elders of the children of Israel together, and tell them, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;

¹⁷and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey."'

¹⁸They will listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord, our God.'

¹⁹I know that the king of Egypt won't give you permission to go, except by a mighty hand.

²⁰I will put forth my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in its midst, and after that he will let you go.

²¹I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed.

²²But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall despoil the Egyptians.

¹Moses answered, "But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, 'The Lord has not appeared to you.'"

²The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."

³He said, "Throw it on the ground." He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.

⁴The Lord said to Moses, "Put forth your hand, and take it by the tail." He put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.

⁵"That they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."

⁶The Lord said furthermore to him, "Now put your hand inside your cloak." He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out from his cloak, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

⁷He said, "Put your hand inside your cloak again." He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.

⁸"It will happen, if they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

⁹It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land."

¹⁰Moses said to the Lord, "Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."

¹¹The Lord said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, the Lord?

¹²Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak."

¹³He said, "Oh, Lord, please send someone else."

¹⁴The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, "What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he comes forth to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

¹⁵You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.

¹⁶He will be your spokesman to the people; and it will happen, that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.

¹⁷You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs."

¹⁸Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive." Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."

¹⁹The Lord said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead."

²⁰Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God's rod in his hand.

²¹The Lord said to Moses, "When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.

²²You shall tell Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn,

²³and I have said to you, "Let my son go, that he may serve me;" and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.'"

²⁴It happened on the way at a lodging place, that the Lord met him and wanted to kill him.

²⁵Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me."

²⁶So he let him alone. Then she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.

²⁷The Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." He went, and met him on God's mountain, and kissed him.

²⁸Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him.

²⁹Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.

³⁰Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

³¹The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

¹Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'"

²Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go."

³They said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword."

⁴The king of Egypt said to them, "Why do you, Moses and Aaron, separate the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!"

⁵Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens."

⁶The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,

⁷"You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.

⁸The number of the bricks, which they made before, you require from them. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'

⁹Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may regard it; and do not let them regard lying words."

¹⁰The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, This is what Pharaoh says: "I will not give you straw.

¹¹Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished."

¹²So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

¹³The taskmasters were urgent saying, "Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw given to you!"

¹⁴The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, "Why haven't you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?"

¹⁵Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you deal this way with your servants?

¹⁶No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, 'Make brick!' and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people."

¹⁷But he said, "You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.'

¹⁸Go therefore now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!"

¹⁹The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, "You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!"

²⁰They met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

²¹and they said to them, "May the Lord look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."

²²Moses returned to the Lord, and said, "Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me?

²³For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people; neither have you delivered your people at all."

¹Give thanks to the Lord! Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples.

²Sing to him, sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works.

³Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

⁴Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face forever more.

⁵Remember his marvelous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,

⁶you seed of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷He is the Lord, our God. His judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac,

¹⁰and confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant,

¹¹saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;"

¹²when they were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it.

¹³They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.

¹⁴He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,

¹⁵"Do not touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!"

¹⁶He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies.

¹⁷He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave.

¹⁸They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons,

¹⁹until the time that his word happened, and the Lord's word proved him true.

²⁰The king sent and freed him; even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.

²¹He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all of his possessions;

²²to discipline his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

²⁴He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries.

²⁵He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.

²⁶He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

²⁷They performed miracles among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and made it dark. They did not rebel against his words.

²⁹He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish.

³⁰Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings.

³¹He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders.

³²He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land.

³³He struck their vines and also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came, and the grasshoppers, without number,

³⁵ate up every plant in their land; and ate up the fruit of their ground.

³⁶He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their manhood.

³⁷He brought them forth with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person among his tribes.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen on them.

³⁹He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night.

⁴⁰They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.

⁴¹He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.

⁴²For he remembered his holy word, and Abraham, his servant.

⁴³He brought forth his people with joy, his chosen with singing.

⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession,

⁴⁵that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

¹Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

²A good man shall obtain favor from the Lord, but he will condemn a man of wicked devices.

³A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

⁴A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown, and are no more, but the house of the righteous shall stand.

⁸A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he who has a warped mind shall be despised.

⁹Better is he who is lightly esteemed, and has a servant, than he who honors himself, and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

¹²The wicked desires the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.

¹⁴A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. The work of a man's hands shall be rewarded to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.

¹⁶A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.

¹⁷He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.

¹⁹Truth's lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.

²¹No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who do the truth are his delight.

²³A prudent man keeps his knowledge, but the hearts of fools proclaim foolishness.

²⁴The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad.

²⁶A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The slothful man doesn't roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

²⁸In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.