Covenant, The (2023)

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Ezra arrived in Jerusalem

in the fifth month

of the seventh year of the king.

He had begun his journey from Babylon

on the first day

of the first month and he arrived

in Jerusalem

on the first day of the fifth month,

for the gracious hand

of his God was on him.

For Ezra had devoted himself

to the study and observance

of the Law of the Lord and to teaching

its decrees and laws in Israel.

This is a copy

of the letter King Artaxerxes

had given to Ezra the priest,

a teacher of the Law,

a man learned in matters

concerning the commands

and decrees of the Lord for Israel.

You are sent by the king

and his seven advisers

to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem

with regard to the Law of your God,

which is in your hand.

From the days of our ancestors

until now, our guilt has been great.

Because of our sins,

we and our kings and our priests

have been subjected to the sword

and captivity, to pillage and humiliation

at the hand of foreign kings,

as it is today.

Lord, the God of Israel,

you are righteous!

We are left this day as a remnant.

Here we are before you in our guilt,

though because of it not one of us can

stand in your presence.

All the people came together as one

in the square before the Water Gate.

They told Ezra,

the teacher of the law,

to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses,

which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

So, on the first day of the seventh month

Ezra the priest brought the Law

before the assembly,

which was made up of men and women

and all who were able to understand.

Ezra opened the book.

All the people could see him

because he was standing above them.

And as he opened it,

the people all stood up.

In the beginning,

God created the heavens and the Earth.

Now the Earth was formless and empty,

darkness was over the surface of the deep,

and the Spirit of God

was hovering over the waters.

And God said,

"Let there be light", and there was light.

Then God said, "Let us make

mankind in our image",

in our likeness so that they may rule

over the fish in the sea

and the birds in the sky,

over the livestock

and all the wild animals

"and over all the creatures

that move along the ground."

Now no shrub had yet appeared on the Earth

and no plant had yet sprung up,

for the Lord God had not sent rain

on the Earth

and there was no one to work the ground.

Then the Lord God formed a man

from the dust of the ground

and breathed into his nostrils

the breath of life,

and the man became a living being.

Now the Lord God had planted

a garden in the east, in Eden,

and there he put the man he had formed.

The Lord God made all

kinds of trees grow out of the ground

trees that were pleasing

to the eye and good for food.

In the middle

of the garden were the tree of life

and the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil.

And the Lord God commanded the man,

"You are free to eat from

any tree in the garden,

but you must not eat

from the tree of the knowledge

of good and evil, for when you eat

from it you will certainly die."

The Lord God said, "It is not good

for the man to be alone."

I will make a helper suitable for him.

Now the snake was more crafty than any

of the wild animals the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, "Did God really say,

"You must not eat from any

tree in the garden"?

You will not certainly die",

the snake said to the woman.

"For God knows that when you eat from it,

your eyes will be opened, and you will be

like God, knowing good and evil.

When the woman saw that the fruit

of the tree was good for food

and pleasing to the eye,

and also desirable for gaining wisdom...

she took some...

and ate it.

She also gave some to her husband,

who was with her

and he ate it.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened

and they realized they were naked.

So, they sewed fig leaves together

and made coverings for themselves.

Then the Lord God said to the woman,

"What is this you have done?"

The woman said,

"The snake deceived me, and I ate."

And the Lord God said,

"The man has now become like one of us,

knowing good and evil."

He must not be allowed

to reach out his hand

and take also from the tree of life

and eat, and live forever.

So, the Lord God banished him

from the Garden of Eden

to work the ground

from which he had been taken.

The Lord saw how great the wickedness

of the human race had become on the Earth

and that every inclination

of the thoughts of the human heart

was only evil all the time.

The Lord regretted that he had made

human beings on the Earth,

and his heart was deeply troubled.

So, the Lord said,

"I will wipe from the face of the Earth

the human race I have created

and with them the animals,

the birds and the creatures

that move along the ground,

for I regret that I have made them.

I am going to bring floodwaters

on the Earth to destroy all life

under the heavens,

every creature

that has the breath of life in it.

Everything on Earth will perish.

Everything on dry land that had

the breath of life in its nostrils died.

Every living thing on the face

of the Earth was wiped out.

People and animals and the creatures

that move along the ground

and the birds were wiped from the Earth.

Only Noah was left,

and those with him in the ark.

Then God said to Noah

and to his sons with him,

"I establish my covenant with you.

Never again will all life be destroyed

by the waters of a flood.

"Never again will there be a flood

to destroy the Earth."

The sons of Noah who came out

of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Ham was the father of Canaan.

These were the three sons of Noah,

and from them came the people

who were scattered over the whole Earth.

The sons of Shem...

Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad,

Lud, and Aram.

Arphaxad was the father of Shelah,

and Shelah the father of Eber.

Eber, Peleg, Reu,

Serug, Nahor, Terah

and Abram.

That is... Abraham.

The Lord had said to Abram,

"Go from your country,"

your people and your father's household

to the land I will show you.

I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you.

I will make your name great

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you

and whoever curses you,

"I will curse and all peoples on Earth

will be blessed through you."

So, Abram went, as the Lord had told him,

and Lot went with him.

Abram was 75 years old

when he set out from Haran.

He took his wife Sarai, his nephew, Lot,

all the possessions they had accumulated

and the people they had acquired

in Haran...

and they set out for the land of Canaan,

and they arrived there.

After this, the word of the Lord came

to Abram in a vision.

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am

your shield, your very great reward."

And Abram said,

"You have given me no children.

So, a servant in my household

will be my heir."

He took him outside and said,

"Look up at the sky

and count the stars,

if indeed you can count them."

Then he said to him,

"So shall your offspring be."

Abram believed the Lord

and he credited it to him

as righteousness.

Now Sarai, Abram's wife,

had borne him no children.

But she had an Egyptian sl*ve named Hagar.

So after Abram had been living in Canaan

ten years, Sarai, his wife,

took her Egyptian sl*ve Hagar

and gave her to her husband

to be his wife.

He slept with Hagar and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant,

she began to despise her mistress.

Then Sarai said to Abram,

"You are responsible

for the wrong I am suffering.

I put my sl*ve in your arms,

and now that she knows she is pregnant,

she despises me. May the Lord

judge between you and me."

"Your sl*ve is in your hands," Abram said.

"Do with her whatever you think best."

Then Sarai mistreated Hagar,

so she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord found Hagar

near a spring in the desert.

It was the spring

that is beside the road to Shur.

Then the angel of the Lord told her,

"Go back to your mistress

and submit to her."

The angel added,

"I will increase your descendants

so much that they will be

too numerous to count."

So, Hagar bore Abram a son,

and Abram gave the name Ishmael

to the son she had borne.

When Abram was 99 years old,

the Lord appeared to him and said,

"I am God Almighty."

Walk before me faithfully

and be blameless.

No longer will you be called Abram.

Your name will be Abraham, for I have

made you a father of many nations.

I will establish my covenant

as an everlasting covenant

between me and you

and your descendants after you

for the generations to come,

"to be your God and the God

of your descendants after you."

God also said to Abraham,

"As for Sarai, your wife,"

you are no longer to call her Sarai.

Her name will be Sarah.

I will bless her

and will surely give you a son by her.

I will bless her so that she will be

the mother of nations,

"kings of peoples will come from her."

Sarah became pregnant

and bore a son to Abraham in his old age.

At the very time God had promised him.

Abraham gave the name Isaac

to the son Sarah bore him.

The child grew and was weaned.

And on the day Isaac was weaned,

Abraham held a great feast.

But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar

the Egyptian had borne to Abraham

was mocking.

And she said to Abraham,

"Get rid of that sl*ve woman and her son,

for that woman's son will never share

in the inheritance with my son Isaac."

The matter distressed Abraham greatly

because it concerned his son.

But God said to him,

"Do not be so distressed"

about the boy and your sl*ve woman.

Listen to whatever Sarah tells you,

because it is through Isaac

that your offspring will be reckoned.

I will make the son of the sl*ve

"into a nation also,

because he is your offspring."

Early the next morning,

Abraham took some food and a skin of water

and gave them to Hagar.

He set them on her shoulders...

and then sent her off with the boy.

She went on her way...

and wandered

in the Desert of Beersheba.

When the water in the skin was gone,

she put the boy under one of the bushes.

Then she went off and sat down

about a bow shot away.

For she thought,

"'I cannot watch the boy die."

And as she sat there nearby,

she began to sob.

God heard the boy crying

and the angel of God

called to Hagar

from heaven and said to her,

"What is the matter, Hagar?

Do not be afraid."

God has heard the boy crying

as he lies there.

Lift the boy up and take him by the hand.

"For I will make him into a great nation."

Then God opened her eyes

and she saw a well of water.

So she went and filled the skin

with water and gave the boy a drink.

God was with the boy as he grew up.

He lived in the desert

and became an archer.

Some time later God tested Abraham.

He said to him, "Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

Then God said,

"Take your son, your only son,

whom you love, Isaac,

and go to the region of Moriah."

"Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering

on a mountain that I will show you"

Early the next morning,

Abraham got up and loaded his donkey.

He took with him two of his servants

and his son Isaac.

When he had cut enough wood

for the burnt offering,

he set out for the place

God had told him about.

On the third day, Abraham looked up

and saw the place in the distance.

He said to his servants, "Stay here

with the donkey

while I and the boy go over there.

We will worship

and then we will come back to you."

Abraham took the wood

for the burnt offering

and placed it on his son Isaac,

and he himself carried the fire

and the knife.

As the two of them went on together,

Isaac spoke up and said to

his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.

"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said,

"but where is the lamb

for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered "God himself will provide

the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."

And the two of them went on together.

When they reached

the place God had told him about...

Abraham built an altar there

and arranged the wood on it.

He bound his son Isaac and laid him

on the altar, on top of the wood.

Then he reached out his hand

and took the knife to slay his son.

But the Angel of the Lord called out

to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Here I am." he replied.

"Do not lay a hand on the boy", he said.

"Do not do anything to him."

Now I know that you fear God,

"because you have not withheld

from me your son, your only son."

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket,

he saw a ram caught by its horns.

He went over and took the ram

and sacrificed it

as a burnt offering instead of his son.

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham

from heaven a second time,

and said, "I swear by myself,"

declares the Lord, "that because you

have done this and have not

withheld your son, your only son,

I will surely bless you

and make your descendants

as numerous as the stars in the sky

and as the sand on the seashore.

Your descendants will take possession

of the cities of their enemies

and through your offspring,

all nations on Earth

"will be blessed,

because you have obeyed me."

Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.

Then Abraham breathed his last

and died at a good old age,

an old man and full of years,

and he was gathered to his people.

And Isaac was 40 years old

when he married Rebekah...

daughter of Bethuel the Aramaean

from Paddan-aram

and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf

of his wife, because she was childless.

The Lord answered his prayer

and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

When the time came for her to give birth,

there were twin boys in her womb.

The boys grew up,

and Esau became a skillful hunter,

a man of the open country,

while Jacob was content

to stay at home among the tents.

God said to him,

"Your name is Jacob

but you will no longer be called Jacob,"

your name will be Israel."

So, he named him Israel.

And God said to him, "I am God Almighty",

be fruitful and increase in number.

A nation and a community

of nations will come from you,

"and kings will be among your descendants."

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any

of his other sons,

because he had been born to him

in his old age...

and he made an ornate robe for him.

When his brothers saw that their father

loved him more than any of them,

they hated him and

could not speak a kind word to him.

Joseph had a dream...

and when he told it to his brothers,

they hated him all the more.

He said to them,

"Listen to this dream I had."

We were binding sheaves of corn

out in the field

when suddenly my sheaf rose

and stood upright,

"while your sheaves gathered around mine

and bowed down to it."

His brothers said to him,

"Do you intend to reign over us?

Will you actually rule us?"

And they hated him all the more

because of his dream and what he had said.

Then he had another dream,

and he told it to his brothers.

"Listen," he said,

"I had another dream,

and this time the sun and moon

and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

His brothers were jealous of him,

but his father kept the matter in mind.

Now his brothers had gone to graze

their father's flocks near Shechem,

and Israel said to Joseph,

"As you know, your brothers

are grazing the flocks near Shechem.

Come, I am going to send you to them."

"Very well," he replied.

So he said to him, "Go

and see if all is well with your brothers

and with the flocks,

and bring word back to me."

Then he sent him off

from the Valley of Hebron.

So, Joseph went after his brothers

and found them near Dothan.

But they saw him in the distance

and before he reached them,

they plotted to k*ll him.

"Here comes that dreamer!"

they said to each other.

"Come now, let's k*ll him

and throw him into one of these cisterns

and say that a ferocious animal

devoured him.

"Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."

So, when Joseph came to his brothers,

they stripped him of his robe.

The ornate robe he was wearing.

And they took him

and threw him into the cistern.

The cistern was empty.

There was no water in it.

As they sat down to eat their meal,

they looked up and saw a caravan

of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead.

Their camels were loaded

with spices, balm and myrrh,

and they were on their way

to take them down to Egypt.

Judah said to his brothers,

"What will we gain if we k*ll our brother

and cover up his blood?

Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites

and not lay our hands on him.

After all, he is our brother,

our own flesh and blood."

His brothers agreed.

So when the Midianite merchants came by,

his brothers pulled Joseph up

out of the cistern.

And sold him for 20 shekels

of silver to the Ishmaelites...

who took him to Egypt.

They took the ornate robe

back to their father and said,

"We found this.

Examine it to see

whether it is your son's robe."

He recognized it and said,

"It is my son's robe."

Some ferocious animal has devoured him.

"Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."

All his sons and daughters

came to comfort him,

but he refused to be comforted.

"No," he said, "I will continue to mourn

until I join my son in the grave."

So, his father wept for him.

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt.

Potiphar, an Egyptian

who was one of Pharaoh's officials,

the captain of the guard,

bought him from the Ishmaelites

who had taken him there.

When his master saw

that the Lord was with him

and that the Lord gave him

success in everything he did,

Joseph found favor in his eyes

and became his attendant.

Potiphar put him in charge

of his household,

and he entrusted to his care everything

he owned.

So, Potiphar left everything he had

in Joseph's care.

With Joseph in charge,

he did not concern himself

with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,

and after a while his master's wife

took notice of Joseph

and said...

"Come to bed with me."

And though she spoke

to Joseph day after day,

he refused to go to bed with her

or even be with her.

One day he went into the house

to attend to his duties,

and none of the household servants

was inside.

She caught him by his cloak

and said, "Come to bed with me!"

But he left his cloak in her hand

and ran out of the house.

She called her household servants. "Look!"

She said to them, "This Hebrew has been

brought to us to make sport of us!

He came in here to sleep with me,

but I screamed."

When his master heard

the story his wife told him, saying,

"This is how your sl*ve treated me,"

he burned with anger.

Joseph's master took him

and put him in prison,

the place where the king's prisoners

were confined.

When two full years had passed,

Pharaoh had a dream.

In the morning, his mind was troubled,

so he sent for all the magicians

and wise men of Egypt.

Pharaoh told them his dreams,

but no one could interpret them for him.

Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh,

"Today, I am reminded of my shortcomings."

Pharaoh was once angry with his servants,

and he imprisoned me and the chief baker

in the house of the captain of the guard.

Each of us had a dream the same night,

and each dream had a meaning of its own.

Now a young Hebrew was there with us,

a servant of the captain of the guard.

We told him our dreams,

and he interpreted them for us,

giving each man the interpretation

of his dream.

And things turned out exactly

as he interpreted them to us.

I was restored to my position,

and the other man was impaled.

So, Pharaoh sent for Joseph...

and he was quickly brought

from the dungeon.

When he had shaved and changed

his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.

Pharaoh said to Joseph,

"I had a dream,

and no one can interpret it.

But I have heard it said of you

that when you hear a dream,

you can interpret it."

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph,

"In my dream I was standing

on the bank of the Nile,

when out of the river

there came up seven cows,

fat and sleek,

and they grazed among the reeds.

After them, seven other cows came up.

Scrawny and very ugly and lean.

I had never seen such ugly cows

in all the land of Egypt.

In my dream, I saw seven ears of corn,

full and good, growing on a single stalk.

After them, seven other ears sprouted.

Withered and thin

and scorched by the east wind.

The thin heads of corn

swallowed up the seven good ears.

"I told this to the magicians,

but none of them could explain it to me."

Seven years of great abundance

are coming throughout the land of Egypt,

but seven years of famine

will follow them.

Then all the abundance in Egypt

will be forgotten,

and the famine will ravage the land.

The reason the dream was given

to Pharaoh in two forms

is that the matter has been firmly decided

by God, and God will do it soon.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph,

"Since God has made all this known to you,

there is no one so discerning

and wise as you."

So Pharaoh said to Joseph,

"I hereby put you in charge

of the whole land of Egypt."

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring

from his finger

and put it on Joseph's finger.

He dressed him in robes of fine linen

and put a gold chain around his neck.

During the seven years of abundance,

the land produced plentifully.

Joseph stored up huge quantities

of grain, like the sand of the sea.

It was so much that he stopped

keeping records

because it was beyond measure.

The seven years of abundance

in Egypt came to an end,

and the seven years of famine began,

just as Joseph had said.

There was famine in all the other lands,

but in the whole land of Egypt

there was food.

When all Egypt began to feel the famine,

the people cried to Pharaoh for food.

Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians,

"Go to Joseph and do what he tells you."

And all the world came to Egypt

to buy grain from Joseph,

because the famine was severe everywhere.

So, Israel's sons were among those

who went to buy grain,

for there was famine

in the land of Canaan also.

As soon as Joseph saw his brothers,

he recognized them, but he pretended

to be a stranger

and spoke harshly to them.

"Where do you come from?" he asked.

"From the land of Canaan,"

they replied "to buy food."

Although Joseph recognized

his brothers, they did not recognize him.

Then he remembered his dreams

about them and said to them,

"You are spies! You have come to see

where our land is unprotected."

"No, my Lord," they answered.

"Your servants have come to buy food.

"We are all the sons of one man.

Your servants are honest men, not spies."

Joseph said to them,

"It is just as I told you,"

you are spies!

And this is how you will be tested.

As surely as Pharaoh lives,

you will not leave this place

unless your youngest brother comes here.

If you are honest men, let one

of your brothers stay here in prison,

while the rest of you go and take grain

back for your starving households.

But you must bring

your youngest brother to me,

"so that your words may be verified

and that you may not die."

This they proceeded to do.

They did not realize

that Joseph could understand them,

since he was using an interpreter.

At the place where they stopped

for the night,

one of them opened his sack to get feed

for his donkey,

and he saw his silver in the mouth

of his sack.

"My silver has been returned," he said

to his brothers. "Here it is in my sack."

Their hearts sank and they turned

to each other trembling

and said, "What is this

that God has done to us?"

When they came to their father

Jacob in the land of Canaan,

they told him all that had

happened to them.

They said, "The man who is lord

over the land spoke harshly to us

and treated us as though

we were spying on the land."

Then their father Israel said

to them, "If it must be, then do this",

put some of the best products

of the land in your bags

and take them down to the man as a gift.

A little balm and a little honey,

some spices and myrrh,

some pistachio nuts and almonds.

Take your brother also

and go back to the man at once.

And may God Almighty

grant you mercy before the man

so that he will let your other brother

and Benjamin come back with you.

"As for me, if I am bereaved,

I am bereaved."

So, the men took the gifts and double

the amount of silver, and Benjamin also.

They hurried down to Egypt

and presented themselves to Joseph.

When Joseph came home,

they presented to him the gifts

they had brought into the house,

and they bowed down before him

to the ground.

He asked them how they were,

and then he said,

"How is your aged father

you told me about? Is he still living?"

They replied "Your servant,

our father, is still alive and well."

And they bowed down,

prostrating themselves before him.

As he looked about and saw his brother,

Benjamin, his own mother's son,

he asked, "Is this your youngest brother,

the one you told me about?"

And he said,

"God be gracious to you, my son."

Then Joseph said to his brothers,

"Come close to me."

When they had done so, he said,

"I am your brother Joseph."

The one you sold into Egypt.

And now, do not be distressed

and do not be angry with yourselves

for selling me here,

because it was to save lives

that God sent me ahead of you.

For two years now,

there has been famine in the land,

and for the next five years

there will be no plowing and reaping.

But God sent me ahead of you

to preserve for you a remnant on Earth

and to save your lives

by a great deliverance.

So then, it was not you

who sent me here, but God.

He made me father to Pharaoh,

lord of his entire household

and ruler of all Egypt.

Now hurry back to my father

and say to him,

"This is what your son, Joseph, says.

God has made me lord of all Egypt.

Come down to me. Don't delay."

So, Joseph settled his father

and his brothers in Egypt

and gave them property

in the best part of the land,

the district of Rameses,

as Pharaoh directed.

Now the Israelites settled in Egypt

in the region of Goshen.

They acquired property there and were

fruitful and increased greatly in number.

Now Joseph and all his brothers

and all that generation died.

Then a new king, to whom Joseph

meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.

"Look," he said to his people,

"the Israelites

have become far too numerous for us."

"Come, we must deal shrewdly with them

or they will become even more numerous

and, if w*r breaks out,

will join our enemies,

fight against us and leave the country."

So, they put sl*ve masters over them

to oppress them with forced labor,

and they built Pithom

and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

But the more they were oppressed,

the more they multiplied and spread.

So, the Egyptians came

to dread the Israelites

and worked them ruthlessly.

Then Pharaoh gave this order

to all his people.

"Every Hebrew boy that is born

you must throw into the Nile,

but let every girl live."

Now a man of the tribe of Levi

married a Levite woman,

and she became pregnant

and gave birth to a son.

When she saw that he was a fine child,

she hid him for three months.

But when she could hide him no longer,

she got a papyrus basket for him

and coated it with tar and pitch.

Then she placed the child in it

and put it among the reeds

along the bank of the Nile.

His sister stood at a distance

to see what would happen to him.

Then Pharaoh's daughter

went down to the Nile to bathe,

and her attendants

were walking along the riverbank.

She saw the basket among the reeds

and sent her female sl*ve to get it.

She opened it and saw the baby.

He was crying, and she felt sorry for him.

"This is one of the Hebrew babies,"

she said.

Then his sister

asked Pharaoh's daughter,

"Shall I go and get one

of the Hebrew women

to nurse the baby for you?"

"Yes, go," she answered.

So, the girl went

and got the baby's mother.

Pharaoh's daughter said to her,

"Take this baby and nurse him for me,

and I will pay you."

So the woman took the baby and nursed him.

When the child grew older,

she took him to Pharaoh's daughter

and he became her son.

She named him Moses, saying,

"I drew him out of the water."

One day, after Moses had grown up,

he went out to where his own people were

and watched them at their hard labor.

He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew,

one of his own people.

Looking this way

and that and seeing no one...

he k*lled the Egyptian

and hid him in the sand.

When Pharaoh heard of this,

he tried to k*ll Moses,

but Moses fled from Pharaoh

and went to live in Midian,

where he sat down by a well.

During that long period,

the king of Egypt died.

The Israelites groaned in their sl*very

and cried out, and their cry for help,

because of their sl*very, went up to God.

God heard their groaning

and he remembered his covenant

with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.

So, God looked on the Israelites

and was concerned about them.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro,

his father-in-law, the priest of Midian,

and he led the flock to the far side

of the wilderness

and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

There the angel of the Lord appeared

to him in flames of fire

from within a bush.

Moses saw that though the bush

was on fire it did not burn up.

When the Lord saw

that he had gone over to look,

God called to him from within the bush,

"Moses! Moses!"

And Moses said, "Here I am."

"Do not come any closer," God said.

"Take off your sandals, for the place

where you are standing is holy ground."

Then he said,

"I am the God of your father,

the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac

and the God of Jacob."

At this, Moses hid his face,

because he was afraid to look at God.

The Lord said, "I have indeed seen

the misery of my people in Egypt."

I have heard them crying out

because of their sl*ve drivers,

and I am concerned about their suffering.

So, now, go.

"I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring

my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt."

But Moses said to God,

"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh

and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

Moses said to God,

"Suppose I go to the Israelites"

and say to them, 'The God

of your fathers has sent me to you, '

and they ask me, 'What is his name?'

"Then what shall I tell them?"

God said to Moses, "I am who I am."

This is what you are to say

to the Israelites.

"'I am has sent me to you.'"

Moses answered,

"What if they do not believe me

or listen to me and say,

'The Lord did not appear to you'?"

Then the Lord said to him,

"What is that in your hand?"

"A staff," he replied.

The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground."

Moses threw it on the ground

and it became a snake...

and he ran from it.

Then the Lord said to him,

"Reach out your hand and take it

by the tail."

So, Moses reached out

and took hold of the snake

and it turned back into a staff

in his hand.

"This," said the Lord,

"is so 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."

Moses said to the Lord,

"Pardon your servant, Lord.

I have never been eloquent,

neither in the past nor since

you have spoken to your servant.

I am slow of speech and tongue."

But Moses said,

"Pardon your servant, Lord."

"Please send someone else."

Then the Lord's anger

burned against Moses

and he said, "What about your brother,

Aaron the Levite?"

I know he can speak well.

He is already on his way to meet you,

and he will be glad to see you.

He will speak to the people for you,

and it will be as if he were your mouth

"and as if you were God to him."

The Lord said to Moses,

"When you return to Egypt,"

see that you perform before Pharaoh

all the wonders I have given you

the power to do.

"But I will harden his heart

so that he will not let the people go."

Afterward, Moses and Aaron

went to Pharaoh and said,

"This is what the Lord,

the God of Israel, says,"

'Let my people go,

"so that they may hold a festival to me

in the wilderness.'"

Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord,

that I should obey him

and let Israel go? I do not know

the Lord and I will not let Israel go."

Then they said, "The God

of the Hebrews has met with us.

Now let us take a three-day journey

into the wilderness to offer sacrifices

to the Lord our God, or he may strike us

with plagues or with the sword."

But the king of Egypt said,

"Moses and Aaron,"

why are you taking the people away

from their labor?

"Get back to your work!"

That same day,

Pharaoh gave this order

to the sl*ve drivers

and overseers in charge of the people.

"Make the work harder for the people

so that they keep working

and pay no attention to lies."

Moses returned to the Lord

and said, "Why, Lord",

why have you brought trouble

on this people?

Is this why you sent me?

Ever since I went to Pharaoh

to speak in your name,

he has brought trouble on this people,

"and you have not rescued

your people at all."

Then the Lord said to Moses,

"Now you will see"

what I will do to Pharaoh.

Because of my mighty hand,

he will let them go.

Because of my mighty hand,

he will drive them out of his country.

Moreover, I have heard

the groaning of the Israelites,

whom the Egyptians are enslaving,

and I have remembered my covenant.

But I will harden Pharaoh's heart,

and though I multiply my signs

and wonders in Egypt,

he will not listen to you.

Then I will lay my hand on Egypt

and with mighty acts of judgment,

I will bring out my divisions,

my people, the Israelites.

And the Egyptians will know

that I am the lord

"when I stretch out my hand against Egypt

and bring the Israelites out of it."

Now the Lord had said to Moses,

"I will bring one more plague

on Pharaoh and on Egypt."

After that, he will let you go from here,

and when he does,

he will drive you out completely.

Tell the whole community of Israel

that on the tenth day of this month,

each man is to take a lamb for his family,

one for each household.

Then they are to take some

of the blood and put it on the sides

and tops of the door frames

of the houses where they eat the lambs.

That same night,

they are to eat the meat roasted

over the fire, along with bitter herbs,

and bread made without yeast.

This is how you are to eat it.

With your cloak tucked into your belt,

your sandals on your feet

and your staff in your hand.

Eat it in haste.

It is the Lord's Passover.

On that same night,

I will pass through Egypt

and strike down every firstborn

of both people and animals...

and I will bring judgment

on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.

The blood will be a sign for you

on the houses where you are,

and when I see the blood,

I will pass over you.

"No destructive plague will touch you

when I strike Egypt."

At midnight the Lord

struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,

from the firstborn

of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne,

to the firstborn of the prisoner,

who was in the dungeon,

and the firstborn

of all the livestock as well.

Pharaoh and all his officials

got up during the night,

and there was loud wailing in Egypt,

for there was not a house

without someone dead.

During the night, Pharaoh summoned

Moses and Aaron and said,

"Up! Leave my people,

you and the Israelites! Go!"

Worship the Lord as you have requested.

Take your flocks and herds,

as you have said, and go.

"And also bless me."

Now, the length of time the Israelite

people lived in Egypt was 430 years.

At the end of the 430 years,

to the very day,

all the Lord's divisions left Egypt.

Then Moses said to the people,

"Commemorate this day,

the day you came out of Egypt,

out of the land of sl*very,

because the Lord brought you out of it

with a mighty hand.

Eat nothing containing yeast."

When Pharaoh let the people go,

God did not lead them on the road

through the Philistine country,

though that was shorter.

For God said, "If they face w*r,

they might change their minds

and return to Egypt."

So, God led the people around

by the desert road toward the Red Sea.

The Israelites went up out

of Egypt ready for battle.

By day, the Lord went ahead of them

in a pillar of cloud

to guide them on their way

and by night,

in a pillar of fire to give them light,

so that they could travel by day or night.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

"Tell the Israelites to turn back

and encamp near Pi-Hahiroth,

between Migdol and the sea.

"They are to camp by the sea,

directly opposite Baal-Zephon."

Pharaoh will think,

"The Israelites are wandering

around the land in confusion,

hemmed in by the desert."

When the king of Egypt

was told that the people had fled,

Pharaoh and his officials

changed their minds about them and said,

"What have we done?

We have let the Israelites go

and have lost their services!"

So, he had his chariot made ready

and took his army with him.

The Egyptians, all Pharaoh's horses

and chariots, horsemen and troops.

Pursued the Israelites and overtook them

as they camped by the sea

near Pi-Hahiroth,

opposite Baal-Zephon.

As Pharaoh approached,

the Israelites looked up,

and there were the Egyptians,

marching after them.

They were terrified

and crying out to the Lord.

They said to Moses,

"Was it because

there were no graves in Egypt

that you brought us

to the desert to die?

What have you done to us

by bringing us out of Egypt?

Didn't we say to you in Egypt,

'Leave us alone,

let us serve the Egyptians'?

"It would have been better for us to serve

the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

Moses answered the people,

"Do not be afraid."

Stand firm

and you will see the deliverance

the Lord will bring you today.

The Egyptians you see today,

you will never see again.

"The Lord will fight for you,

you need only to be still."

Then the Lord said to Moses,

"Why are you crying out to me?

Tell the Israelites to move on.

Raise your staff and stretch out

your hand over the sea

to divide the water so that the Israelites

can go through the sea on dry ground."

Then Moses stretched out his hand

over the sea,

and all that night,

the Lord drove the sea back

with a strong east wind

and turned it into dry land.

The waters were divided,

and the Israelites went through

the sea on dry ground,

with a wall of water on their right

and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them,

and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots

and horsemen followed them into the sea.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

"Stretch out your hand over the sea

so that the waters may flow back

over the Egyptians

and their chariots and horsemen."

The water flowed back and covered

the chariots and horsemen.

The entire army of Pharaoh that had

followed the Israelites into the sea.

Not one of them survived.

That day, the Lord saved Israel

from the hands of the Egyptians,

and Israel saw the Egyptians

lying dead on the shore.

And when the Israelites saw

the mighty hand of the Lord

displayed against the Egyptians,

the people feared the Lord

and put their trust in him.

And in Moses, his servant.

The whole Israelite community

set out from Elim

and came to the Desert of Sin,

which is between Elim and Sinai,

on the 15th day of the second month

after they had come out of Egypt.

In the desert, the whole community

grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

The Israelites said to them,

"If only we had died

by the Lord's hand in Egypt!

There we sat around pots of meat

and ate all the food we wanted,

but you have brought us out

into this desert

to starve this entire assembly to death."

So, Moses and Aaron said

to all the Israelites,

"In the evening, you will know that it was

the Lord who brought you out of Egypt,

and in the morning,

you will see the glory of the Lord,

because he has heard

your grumbling against him.

Who are we,

that you should grumble against us?"

Moses also said,

"You will know that it was the Lord"

when he gives you meat to eat

in the evening

and all the bread you want in the morning,

because he has heard

your grumbling against him.

"Who are we? You are not grumbling

against us, but against the Lord."

That evening quail came

and covered the camp.

And in the morning there was a layer

of dew around the camp.

When the dew was gone,

thin flakes like frost on the ground

appeared on the desert floor.

When the Israelites saw it,

they said to each other,

"What is it?"

For they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them...

"It is the bread

the Lord has given you to eat."

This is what the Lord has commanded.

Everyone is to gather

as much as they need.

"Take an omer for each person

you have in your tent."

The Israelites did as they were told,

some gathered much, some little.

The whole Israelite community

set out from the Desert of Sin,

traveling from place to place

as the Lord commanded.

They camped at Rephidim, but there

was no water for the people to drink.

So, they quarreled with Moses

and said, "Give us water to drink."

Moses replied,

"Why do you quarrel with me?

Why do you put the Lord to the test?"

But the people were

thirsty for water there,

and they grumbled against Moses.

They said, "Why did you bring us

up out of Egypt

to make us and our children

and livestock die of thirst?"

Then Moses cried out to the Lord,

"What am I to do with these people?

They are almost ready to stone me."

The Lord answered Moses,

"Go out in front of the people."

Take with you some of the elders of Israel

and take in your hand the staff

with which you struck the Nile, and go.

I will stand there before you

by the rock at Horeb.

Strike the rock...

"and water will come out of it

for the people to drink."

So, Moses did this in the sight

of the elders of Israel.

After they set out from Rephidim,

they entered the Desert of Sinai,

and Israel camped there in the desert

in front of the mountain.

On the morning of the third day,

there was thunder and lightning,

with a thick cloud over the mountain...

and a very loud trumpet blast.

Everyone in the camp trembled.

The Lord descended to the top

of Mount Sinai

and called Moses

to the top of the mountain.

So, Moses went up.

And God spoke all these words.

"I am the Lord your God,

who brought you out of Egypt,

out of the land of sl*very.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself

an image in the form of anything

in heaven above or on the Earth beneath

or in the waters below.

You shall not misuse the name

of the Lord your God,

for the Lord will not hold anyone

guiltless who misuses his name.

Remember the Sabbath day

by keeping it holy.

Honor your father and your mother,

so that you may live long in the land

the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not m*rder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony

against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife,

or his male or female servant,

"his ox or donkey or anything

that belongs to your neighbor."

Then the Lord said to Moses,

"Tell the Israelites this."

'You have seen for yourselves

that I have spoken to you from heaven.

Do not make any gods to be alongside me.

"Do not make for yourselves

gods of silver or gods of gold'."

When the Lord finished speaking to Moses

on Mount Sinai,

he gave him the two tablets

of the covenant law,

the tablets of stone inscribed

by the finger of God.

When the people saw that Moses was so long

in coming down from the mountain,

they gathered around Aaron and said,

"Come, make us gods who will go before us.

As for this fellow, Moses,

who brought us up out of Egypt,

we don't know what has happened to him."

Then the Lord said to Moses,

"Go down, because your people,

whom you brought up out of Egypt,

have become corrupt.

They have been quick to turn away

from what I commanded them

and have made themselves an idol

cast in the shape of a calf.

They have bowed down to it

and sacrificed to it and have said,

"'These are your gods, Israel,

who brought you up out of Egypt'."

When Joshua heard

the noise of the people shouting,

he said to Moses,

"There is the sound of w*r in the camp."

Moses replied,

"It is not the sound of victory,

it is not the sound of defeat.

It is the sound of singing that I hear."

When Moses approached the camp

and saw the calf and the dancing,

his anger burned

and he threw the tablets out of his hands,

breaking them to pieces

at the foot of the mountain.

He said to Aaron,

"What did these people do to you,

that you led them into such great sin?"

So, Moses went back to the Lord

and said...

"Oh, what a great sin

these people have committed."

They have made themselves gods of gold.

But now, please forgive their sin,

but if not,

"then blot me out of the book

you have written."

The Lord replied to Moses,

"Whoever has sinned against me,

I will blot out of my book."

Moses said to the Lord,

"You have been telling me,

'Lead these people, '

but you have not let me know

whom you will send with me.

You have said, "I know you by name

and you have found favor with me."

If you are pleased with me,

teach me your ways

so I may know you

and continue to find favor with you.

"Remember that this nation is your people."

The Lord said to Moses,

"Chisel out two stone tablets

like the first ones,

and I will write on them the words

that were on the first tablets,

"which you broke."

Then the Lord said,

"I am making a covenant with you."

Before all your people,

I will do wonders never before done

in any nation in all the world.

The people you live among

will see how awesome is the work that I,

"the Lord, will do for you."

Moses assembled

the whole Israelite community

and said to them, "These are the things

the Lord has commanded you to do."

All who are skilled among you

are to come and make everything

the Lord has commanded.

The tabernacle with its tent

and its covering,

clasps, frames, crossbars,

posts and bases.

The ark with its poles

and the atonement cover

and the curtain that shields it.

The table with its poles

and all its articles

and the bread of the Presence.

The lamp stand that is for light

with its accessories,

lamps and oil for the light.

The altar of incense with its poles,

the anointing oil

and the fragrant incense.

The curtain for the doorway

at the entrance to the tabernacle.

The altar of burnt offering

with its bronze grating,

its poles and all its utensils.

"The bronze basin with its stand."

The Israelites had done all the work

just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Moses inspected the work...

and saw that they had done it,

just as the Lord had commanded.

So, Moses blessed them.

Then the cloud covered

the tent of meeting,

and the glory of the Lord

filled the tabernacle.

So, they set out from the mountain

of the Lord and traveled for three days.

The ark of the covenant

of the Lord went before them

during those three days

to find them a place to rest.

The Lord said to Moses,

"Send some men to explore

the land of Canaan,

which I am giving to the Israelites.

From each ancestral tribe

send one of its leaders."

When Moses sent them

to explore Canaan, he said,

"Go up through the Negev

and on into the hill country."

See what the land is like

and whether the people who live there

are strong or weak, few or many.

How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor?

Are there trees in it or not?

"Do your best to bring back

some of the fruit of the land."

At the end of 40 days, they returned

from exploring the land.

They came back to Moses and Aaron

and the whole Israelite community

at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran.

There they reported to them

and to the whole assembly

and showed them the fruit of the land.

They gave Moses this account,

"We went into the land

to which you sent us,

and it does flow with milk

and honey! Here is its fruit."

Then Caleb silenced the people

before Moses and said,

"We should go up and take possession

of the land, for we can certainly do it."

But the men who had gone up with him said,

"We can't attack those people.

They are stronger than we are."

And they spread among the Israelites

a bad report

about the land they had explored.

They said, "The land we explored

devours those living in it.

All the people we saw there

are of great size."

That night, all the members

of the community

raised their voices and wept aloud.

All the Israelites grumbled

against Moses and Aaron,

and the whole assembly said to them,

"If only we had died in Egypt!

Or in this wilderness!

Why is the Lord bringing us to this land

only to let us fall by the sword?

Our wives and children

will be taken as plunder.

Wouldn't it be better for us

to go back to Egypt?"

And they said to each other, "We should

choose a leader and go back to Egypt."

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown

in front of the whole Israelite assembly

gathered there.

But the whole assembly

talked about stoning them.

Then the glory of the Lord

appeared at the tent of meeting

to all the Israelites.

The Lord said to Moses,

"How long will these people treat me

with contempt?"

How long will they refuse

to believe in me,

in spite of all the signs

I have performed among them?

I will strike them down

with a plague and destroy them,

"but I will make you into a nation

greater and stronger than they."

Moses said to the Lord,

"Then the Egyptians will hear about it."

By your power, you brought these people

up from among them.

If you put all these people to death,

leaving none alive,

the nations, who have heard

this report about you, will say,

'The Lord was not able

to bring these people into the land

he promised them on oath, so,

he slaughtered them in the wilderness.'

In accordance with your great love,

forgive the sin of these people,

"just as you have pardoned them

from the time they left Egypt until now."

The Lord replied...

"I have forgiven them, as you asked."

Nevertheless, as surely as I live

and as surely as the glory of the Lord

fills the whole Earth,

not one of those who saw my glory

and the signs I performed in Egypt

and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me

and tested me ten times.

Not one of them will ever see the land

I promised on oath to their ancestors.

"No one who has treated me

with contempt will ever see it."

The Lord's anger burned against Israel

and he made them wander in the wilderness

for 40 years,

until the whole generation of those

who had done evil in his sight was gone.

In the 40th year,

on the first day of the eleventh month,

Moses proclaimed to the Israelites

all that the Lord had commanded him

concerning them.

"Hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God, the Lord is one."

Love the Lord your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

and with all your strength.

Remember how the Lord your God

led you all the way in the wilderness

these 40 years,

to humble and test you

in order to know what was in your heart,

whether or not

you would keep his commands.

Observe the commands of the Lord your God,

walking in obedience to him

and revering him.

For the Lord your God

is bringing you into a good land.

A land with brooks, streams,

and deep springs gushing out

into the valleys and hills.

The Lord your God will raise up for you

a prophet like me from among you,

from your fellow Israelites.

You must listen to him.

You are standing here in order to enter

into a covenant with the Lord your God,

a covenant the Lord is making

with you this day

and sealing with an oath,

to confirm you this day as his people...

that he may be your God

as he promised you...

and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham,

Isaac

and Jacob.

For I command you today

to love the Lord your God,

to walk in obedience to him,

and to keep his commands,

decrees and laws.

Then you will live and increase,

and the Lord your God

will bless you in the land

you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away

and you are not obedient,

and if you are drawn away

to bow down to other gods

and worship them,

I declare to you this day

that you will certainly be destroyed.

You will not live long in the land

you are crossing the Jordan

to enter and possess.

I am now 120 years old

and I am no longer able to lead you.

The Lord has said to me,

"'You shall not cross the Jordan'."

Then Moses summoned Joshua

and said to him

in the presence of all Israel...

"Be strong and courageous,

for you must go with this people

into the land that the Lord

swore to their ancestors to give them,

and you must divide it among them

as their inheritance.

The Lord himself goes

before you and will be with you.

He will never leave you nor forsake you.

"Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged."

Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo

from the plains of Moab

to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho.

There the Lord showed

him the whole land, from Gilead to Dan.

Then the Lord said to him,

"This is the land I promised

on oath to Abraham,

Isaac and Jacob when I said,

'I will give it to your descendants.'

I have let you see it with your eyes,

"but you will not cross over into it."

And Moses, the servant of the Lord,

died there in Moab, as the Lord had said.

He buried him in Moab,

in the valley opposite Beth Peor,

but to this day,

no one knows where his grave is.

Since then, no prophet

has risen in Israel like Moses,

whom the Lord knew face-to-face,

who did all those signs and wonders

the Lord sent him to do in Egypt,

to Pharaoh and to all his officials

and to his whole land.

For no one has ever shown

the mighty power

or performed the awesome deeds

that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Now what I am commanding you today

is not too difficult for you

or beyond your reach.

No.

The word is very near you.

It is in your mouth

and in your heart so, you may obey it.

This day, I call the heavens

and the Earth as witnesses against you.

That I have set before you life and death,

blessings and curses.

Now, choose life...

so that you and your children may live.

"The days are coming," declares the Lord,

"when I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel

and with the people of Judah.

This is the covenant I will make

with the people of Israel

"after that time," declares the Lord.

"I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

"I will be their God,

and they will be my people."

Thus there were 14 generations

in all from Abraham to David,

14 from David to the exile to Babylon

and 14 from the exile to the Messiah.