Today's Reading

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, "This is what the Lord says, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me.

²If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs:

³and the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs:

⁴and the frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.'"

⁵The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch forth your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.'"

⁶Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

⁷The magicians did in like manner with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, "Entreat the Lord, that he take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord."

⁹Moses said to Pharaoh, "I give you the honor of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only."

¹⁰He said, "Tomorrow." He said, "Be it according to your word, that you may know that there is none like the Lord our God.

¹¹The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only."

¹²Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord concerning the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh.

¹³The Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.

¹⁴They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.

¹⁵But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken.

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.'"

¹⁷They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸The magicians tried with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they couldn't. There were lice on man, and on animal.

¹⁹Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God:" and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them; as the Lord had spoken.

²⁰The Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes forth to the water; and tell him, 'This is what the Lord says, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.

²¹Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

²²I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

²³I will put a division between my people and your people: by tomorrow shall this sign be."'"

²⁴The Lord did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies.

²⁵Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!"

²⁶Moses said, "It isn't appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. Behold, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and won't they stone us?

²⁷We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us."

²⁸Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me."

²⁹Moses said, "Behold, I go out from you, and I will pray to the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord."

³⁰Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to the Lord.

³¹The Lord did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one.

³²Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, 'This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, that they may serve me.

²For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,

³behold, the hand of the Lord is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence.

⁴The Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belongs to the children of Israel."'"

⁵The Lord appointed a set time, saying, "Tomorrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land."

⁶The Lord did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.

⁷Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of Israel dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he did not let the people go.

⁸The Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, "Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.

⁹It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt."

¹⁰They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became a boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal.

¹¹The magicians couldn't stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians, and on all the Egyptians.

¹²The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

¹³The Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, 'This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, that they may serve me.

¹⁴For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.

¹⁵For now I would have put forth my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth;

¹⁶but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth;

¹⁷as you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won't let them go.

¹⁸Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now.

¹⁹Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. Every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn't brought home, the hail shall come down on them, and they shall die."'"

²⁰Those who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses.

²¹Whoever did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²²The Lord said to Moses, "Stretch forth your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt."

²³Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and the Lord sent thunder, hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. The Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.

²⁴So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

²⁵The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.

²⁶Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

²⁸Pray to the Lord; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer."

²⁹Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands to the Lord. The thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is the Lord's.

³⁰But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God."

³¹The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom.

³²But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up.

³³Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands to the Lord; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.

³⁴When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

³⁵The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the children of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

¹The Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs in the midst of them,

²and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son's son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am the Lord."

³Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, "This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.

⁴Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,

⁵and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won't be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field.

⁶Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.'" He turned, and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord, their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?"

⁸Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go, serve the Lord your God; but who are those who will go?"

⁹Moses said, "We will go with our young and with our old; with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast to the Lord."

¹⁰He said to them, "The Lord be with you if I will let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces.

¹¹Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve the Lord; for that is what you desire!" They were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

¹²The Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left."

¹³Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

¹⁴The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.

¹⁵For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was destroyed,and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

¹⁶Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, "I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.

¹⁷Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to the Lord your God, that he may also take away from me this death."

¹⁸He went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to the Lord.

¹⁹The Lord turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt.

²⁰But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.

²¹The Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt."

²²Moses stretched forth his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.

²³They did not see one another, neither did anyone rise from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

²⁴Pharaoh called to Moses and said, "Go, serve the Lord. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you."

²⁵Moses said, "You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

²⁶Our livestock also shall go with us. There shall not a hoof be left behind, for of it we must take to serve the Lord our God; and we do not know with what we must serve the Lord, until we come there."

²⁷But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he wouldn't let them go.

²⁸Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!"

²⁹Moses said, "You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more."

¹"For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

²When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

⁴To them he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went their way.

⁵Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.

⁶About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing. He said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?'

⁷"They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' "He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.'

⁸When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.'

⁹"When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.

¹⁰When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius.

¹¹When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household,

¹²saying, 'These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!'

¹³"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.

¹⁵Is not it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?'

¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first last."

¹⁷As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve aside, and on the way he said to them,

¹⁸"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death,

¹⁹and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up."

²⁰Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.

²¹He said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom."

²²But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said to him, "We are able."

²³He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father."

²⁴When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.

²⁵But Jesus summoned them, and said, "You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

²⁶It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you must be your servant.

²⁷Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant,

²⁸even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

²⁹As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.

³⁰Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, shouted, "Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!"

³¹The multitude rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they shouted even more, "Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!"

³²Jesus stood still, and called them, and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?"

³³They told him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."

³⁴Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.

¹ May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,

²send you help from the sanctuary, grant you support from Zion,

³remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah.

⁴May He grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your counsel.

⁵We will triumph in your salvation. In the name of our God, we will set up our banners. May the Lord grant all your requests.

⁶Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand.

⁷Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of the Lord our God.

⁸They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright.

⁹Save, Lord! Let the King answer us when we call!

¹Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

³It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; but every fool will be quarreling.

⁴The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

⁵Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?

⁷A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, "I have made my heart pure. I am clean and without sin?"

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

¹¹Even a child makes himself known by his doings, whether his work is pure, and whether it is right.

¹²The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, The Lord has made even both of them.

¹³Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.

¹⁴"It's no good, it's no good," says the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold and abundance of rubies; but the lips of knowledge are a rare jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.

¹⁷Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by advice; by wise guidance you wage war!

¹⁹He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore do not keep company with him who opens wide his lips.

²⁰Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

²¹An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning, won't be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, "I will pay back evil." Wait for the Lord, and he will save you.

²³The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.

²⁴A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?

²⁵It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of man is the Lord's lamp, searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep the king safe. His throne is sustained by love.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength. The splendor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Wounding blows cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the innermost parts.