Bitter Water Made Sweet

²² Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of ^(A)Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. ²³ When they came to ^(B)Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.^{[a] 24} And the people ^(C)grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵ And he ^(D)cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log,^[b] and he ^(E)threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord^[c] made for them a statute and a rule, and there he ^(F)tested them, ²⁶ saying, ^(G)“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the ^(H)diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, ^(I)your healer.”

²⁷ Then ^(J)they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

Bread from Heaven

16 They ^(K)set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. ² And the whole congregation of the people of Israel ^(L)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, ³ and the people of Israel said to them, ^(M)“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(N)when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain ^(O)bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may ^(P)test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, ^(Q)it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, ^(R)“At evening ^(S)you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you shall see the ^(T)glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For ^(U)what are we, that you grumble against us?” ⁸ And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—^(V)what are we? Your grumbling is not ^(W)against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses ^(X)said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ^(Y)‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” ¹⁰ And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the ^(Z)glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I ^(AA)have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At ^(AB)twilight you shall eat meat, and ^(AC)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ In the evening ^(AD)quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(AE)dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴ And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ^(AF)“What is it?”^[d] For they ^(AG)did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ^(AH)“It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an ^(AI)omer,^[e] according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” ¹⁷ And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. ¹⁸ But when they measured it with an omer, ^(AJ)whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. ¹⁹ And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and ^(AK)it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. ²¹ Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

²² On ^(AL)the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, ²³ he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of ^(AM)solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” ²⁴ So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and ^(AN)it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat it today, for ^(AO)today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. ²⁶ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

²⁷ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. ²⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(AP)“How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ²⁹ See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people ^(AQ)rested on the seventh day.

³¹ Now the house of Israel called its name ^(AR)manna. It was ^(AS)like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a ^(AT)jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before ^(AU)the testimony to be kept. ³⁵ The people of Israel ^(AV)ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till ^(AW)they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (An omer is ^(AX)the tenth part of an ephah.)^[f]

Water from the Rock

17 ^(AY)All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ^2 (AZ)Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you ^(BA)test the Lord?” ³ But the people thirsted there for water, and ^(BB)the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” ⁴ So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready ^(BC)to stone me.” ⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with ^(BD)which you struck the Nile, and go. ^6 (BE)Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the name of the place ^(BF)Massah^[g] and ^(BG)Meribah,^[h] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Israel Defeats Amalek

^8 (BH)Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ So Moses said to ^(BI)Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with ^(BJ)the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ So ^(BK)Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and ^(BL)Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ Whenever Moses ^(BM)held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and ^(BN)Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³ And ^(BO)Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of ^(BP)Joshua, that ^(BQ)I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ And Moses ^(BR)built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, ¹⁶ saying, “A hand upon the throne^[i] of the Lord! ^(BS)The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

The Twelve Apostles

10 ^(A)And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. ^2 (B)The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, ^(C)who is called Peter, and ^(D)Andrew his brother; ^(E)James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and ^(F)Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;^{[a] 4} Simon the Zealot,^[b] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^5 (G)These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of ^(H)the Samaritans, ^6 (I)but go rather to ^(J)the lost sheep of ^(K)the house of Israel. ⁷ And proclaim as you go, saying, ^(L)‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’^{[c] 8 (M)}Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,^[d] cast out demons. ^(N)You received without paying; give without pay. ^9 (O)Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for your journey, or two tunics^[e] or sandals or a staff, for ^(P)the laborer deserves his food. ¹¹ And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. ¹² As you enter the house, ^(Q)greet it. ¹³ And if the house is ^(R)worthy, let ^(S)your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let ^(T)your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, ^(U)shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. ¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, ^(V)it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for ^(W)the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Persecution Will Come

^16 (X)“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be ^(Y)wise as serpents and ^(Z)innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Beware of men, for ^(AA)they will deliver you over to courts and flog you ^(AB)in their synagogues, ^18 (AC)and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, ^(AD)to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. ^19 (AE)When ^(AF)they deliver you over, ^(AG)do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for ^(AH)what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. ^20 (AI)For it is not you who speak, but ^(AJ)the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ^21 (AK)Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ^22 (AL)and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. ^(AM)But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When they ^(AN)persecute you in one town, ^(AO)flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel ^(AP)before the Son of Man comes.

^24 (AQ)“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant^[f] above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. ^(AR)If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign^[g] those of his household.

Have No Fear

²⁶ “So have no fear of them, ^(AS)for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on ^(AT)the housetops. ²⁸ And ^(AU)do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him ^(AV)who can destroy both soul and body in hell.^{[h] 29} Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?^[i] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But ^(AW)even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; ^(AX)you are of more value than many sparrows. ^32 (AY)So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³ but ^(AZ)whoever denies me before men, ^(BA)I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

^34 (BB)“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. ^(BC)I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ^35 (BD)For I have come ^(BE)to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ^36 (BF)And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. ^37 (BG)Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And ^(BH)whoever does not take his cross and ^(BI)follow me is not worthy of me. ^39 (BJ)Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Rewards

^40 (BK)“Whoever receives you receives me, and ^(BL)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. ^41 (BM)The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. ⁴² And ^(BN)whoever gives one of ^(BO)these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”