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The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.(A) You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land.(B) But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.(C) When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring my people the Israelites, company by company, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.(D) The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”(E) Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them.(F) Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.(G)

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’ ”(H) 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.(I) 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts.(J) 12 Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs. 13 However, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.(K)

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.(L) 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake.(M) 16 Say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let my people go, so that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But until now you have not listened.(N) 17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord.” See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood.(O) 18 The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.’ ”(P) 19 The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its canals, and its ponds, and all its pools of water—so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.”(Q)

20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile; all the water in the river was turned into blood,(R) 21 and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt.(S) 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.(T) 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river.

25 Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

The Second Plague: Frogs

[a]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, so that they may serve me.(U) If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs; they shall come up into your palace, into your bedchamber and your bed, into the houses of your officials and of your people,[b] and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.(V) The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your officials.’ ” [c]And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’ ”(W) So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.(X) But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and brought frogs up on the land of Egypt.(Y)

Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take away the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”(Z) Moses said to Pharaoh, “Kindly tell me when I am to pray for you and for your officials and for your people, that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” 10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “As you say! So that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God,(AA) 11 the frogs shall leave you and your houses and your officials and your people; they shall be left only in the Nile.” 12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs that he had brought upon Pharaoh.(AB) 13 And the Lord did as Moses requested: the frogs died in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. 14 And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.(AC)

The Third Plague: Gnats

16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.’ ” 17 And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and gnats came on humans and animals alike; all the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.(AD) 18 The magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, but they could not. There were gnats on both humans and animals.(AE) 19 And the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.(AF)

The Fourth Plague: Flies

20 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, so that they may serve me,(AG) 21 because if you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, and your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, as will the land where they live. 22 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I the Lord am in this land.(AH) 23 Thus I will make a distinction[d] between my people and your people. This sign shall appear tomorrow.’ ” 24 The Lord did so, and great swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and into his officials’ houses; in all of Egypt the land was ruined because of the flies.(AI)

25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” 26 But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the sacrifices that we offer to the Lord our God are offensive to the Egyptians. If we offer in the sight of the Egyptians sacrifices that are offensive to them, will they not stone us? 27 We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he commands us.”(AJ) 28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, provided you do not go very far away. Pray for me.”(AK) 29 Then Moses said, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people; only do not let Pharaoh again deal falsely by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”(AL)

30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 31 And the Lord did as Moses asked: he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people; not one remained. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and would not let the people go.(AM)

Footnotes

  1. 8.1 7.26 in Heb
  2. 8.3 Gk: Heb upon your people
  3. 8.5 8.1 in Heb
  4. 8.23 Gk Syr Vg: Heb will set redemption

The Tradition of the Elders

15 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.”(A) He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said,[a] ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’(B) But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’[b] then that person need not honor the father.[c](C) So, for the sake of your tradition, you nullify the word[d] of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:

‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me;(D)
in vain do they worship me,
    teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ ”(E)

Things That Defile

10 Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”(F) 12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.(G) 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.[e] And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.”(H) 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”(I) 16 Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding?(J) 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.(K) 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.(L) 20 These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”

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Footnotes

  1. 15.4 Other ancient authorities read commanded, saying
  2. 15.5 Or is an offering
  3. 15.5 Other ancient authorities add or the mother
  4. 15.6 Other ancient authorities read law or commandment
  5. 15.14 Other ancient authorities lack of the blind