The Lord is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing. Psalm 23:1
Exodus 6-7
Exodus 6
God Promises Deliverance
1 The Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by my mighty hand he shall let them go, and by my strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.”
2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name, Yahweh, I was not known to them. 4 I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojourning, in which they were foreigners. 5 Moreover I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 Therefore tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will release you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to myself as a people. I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage. I am the Lord.’ ”
9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to Moses because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.
Moses and Aaron Sent to Pharoah
10 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.”
12 Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The Israelites have not listened to me. How then will Pharaoh listen to me, when I am deficient in speech?”
Genealogies of Moses and Aaron
13 The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave a command to the Israelites and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
14 These are the heads of their fathers’ households:
The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel:
Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi,
These are the families of Reuben.
15 The sons of Simeon:
Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin,
and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
These are the families of Simeon.
16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their genealogy:
Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari;
and Levi lived 137 years.
17 The sons of Gershon:
Libni and Shimei, according to their clans.
18 The sons of Kohath:
Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron,
and Uzziel; Kohath lived 133 years.
19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
These are the families of the Levites
according to their genealogy.
20 Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife,
and she bore him Aaron and Moses.
Amram lived 137 years.
21 The sons of Izhar:
Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri.
23 Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife,
and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24 The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph;
these are the families of the Korahites.
25 Eleazar Aaron’s son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife,
and she bore him Phinehas.
These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.
Moses and Aaron’s Story Recounted
26 These are the ones, Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out from the land of Egypt according to their armies.” 27 These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.
28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 he said to Moses, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I tell you.”
30 Moses said before the Lord, “I am deficient in speech. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”
Exodus 7
I will Stretch Out My Hand
1 The Lord said to Moses, “I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the Israelites go out of his land.
3 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring out my armies, my people the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”
6 Moses and Aaron did so. As the Lord commanded them, so they did. 7 Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Serpent
8 The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’ ”
10 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and they did so, as the Lord had commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments. 12 For they each cast down their staffs, and they became serpents, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
13 Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken.
The First Plague: Blood
14 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. He is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the staff which was turned to a serpent in your hand. 16 You shall tell him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. Until now you have not listened.” 17 The Lord says this: By this you shall know that I am the Lord. I will strike with the staff that is in my hand, on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 The fish that are in the river will die, and the river will become foul. The Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the river.’ ”
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood. There will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ”
20 Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded, and he lifted up the staff, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died. The river became foul, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river. The blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not even take this to heart. 24 All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink, for they could not drink the river water.
25 Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.
Matthew 18:21-19:12
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
21 Then Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but, up to 70 x 7.
23 Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants. 24 When he had begun to reconcile, a man was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. 25 But because he could not pay, his master commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and everything that he owned so that payment could be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will repay everything to you!’
27 The master of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave his debt.
28 But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii, and he grabbed him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’
30 He would not but went and cast him into prison until he could pay back that which was due.
31 So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were greatly grieved and came and told their master all that was done.
32 Then his master called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 His master was angry and delivered him to the tormentors until he could repay all that was due to him.
35 So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you do not each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”
Matthew 19
Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce
1 When Jesus had finished speaking these words, he departed from Galilee and came into the borders of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 Great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Pharisees came to him, tempting him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?’ 6 so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. What, therefore, God has joined together, do not let man tear apart.”
7 They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?”
8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. 9 I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery, and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.”
10 His disciples said to him, “If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 But he said to them, “Not all men can accept these words except to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.”
Psalm 23
The Lord is My Shepherd
A Psalm by David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd:
I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Proverbs 5:22-23
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him.
The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23 He will die for lack of instruction.
In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.