The Birth of Moses

2 Now a man from ^(A)the house of Levi went and ^[a]married a daughter of Levi. ² The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw ^[b]that he was ^[c](B)beautiful, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a ^[d](C)wicker ^[e]basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the ^(D)reeds by the bank of the Nile. ^4 (E)His sister stood at a distance to ^[f]find out what would ^[g]happen to him.

⁵ The daughter of Pharaoh came down ^(F)to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the ^[h]basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it to her. ⁶ When she opened it, she ^[i]saw the child, and behold, the ^[j]boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” ⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call ^[k]a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?” ⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and ^(G)he became her son. And she named him ^[l]Moses, and said, “Because I ^[m]drew him out of the water.”

¹¹ Now it came about in those days, ^(H)when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their ^[n](I)hard labors; and ^(J)he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. ¹² So he ^[o]looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he ^(K)struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ He went out ^(L)the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were ^[p]fighting with each other; and he said to the ^[q]offender, “Why are you striking your companion?” ¹⁴ But he said, “^(M)Who made you a ^[r]prince or a judge over us? Are you ^[s]intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.”

Moses Escapes to Midian

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But ^(N)Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and ^[t]settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down ^(O)by a well.

¹⁶ Now ^(P)the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and ^(Q)they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but ^(R)Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they came to ^(S)Reuel their father, he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?” ¹⁹ So they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew the water for us and watered the flock.” ²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him ^[u]to have something to eat.” ^21 (T)Moses was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave his daughter ^(U)Zipporah to Moses. ²² Then she gave birth to ^(V)a son, and he named him ^[v]Gershom, for he said, “I have been ^(W)a ^[w]sojourner in a foreign land.”

²³ Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel ^(X)sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and ^(Y)their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. ²⁴ So ^(Z)God heard their groaning; and God remembered ^(AA)His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^25 (AB)God saw the sons of Israel, and God ^[x]took notice of them.

The First Disciples

5 ^(A)Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by ^(B)the lake of Gennesaret; ² and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ And ^(C)He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the ^[a]people from the boat. ⁴ When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and ^(D)let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon answered and said, “^(E)Master, ^(F)we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but ^[b]I will do as You say and let down the nets.” ⁶ When they had done this, ^(G)they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; ⁷ so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ ^[c]feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and so also were ^[d]James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “^(H)Do not fear, from now on you will be ^(I)catching men.” ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to land, ^(J)they left everything and followed Him.

The Leper and the Paralytic

^12 (K)While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man ^[e]covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ¹³ And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and ^(L)show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ¹⁵ But ^(M)the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus Himself would often slip away ^[f]to the ^[g]wilderness and ^(N)pray.

^17 [h]One day He was teaching; and ^(O)there were some Pharisees and ^(P)teachers of the law sitting there, who had ^(Q)come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and ^(R)the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. ^18 (S)And some men were carrying on a ^[i]bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. ¹⁹ But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on ^(T)the roof and let him down ^(U)through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ Seeing their faith, He said, “^[j]Friend, ^(V)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ The scribes and the Pharisees ^(W)began to reason, saying, “^(X)Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? ^(Y)Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” ²² But Jesus, ^[k]aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the ^(Z)paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” ²⁵ Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home ^(AA)glorifying God. ^26 [l]They were all struck with astonishment and began ^(AB)glorifying God; and they were filled ^(AC)with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Call of Levi (Matthew)

^27 (AD)After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named ^[m](AE)Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” ²⁸ And he ^(AF)left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.

²⁹ And ^(AG)Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of ^(AH)tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. ^30 (AI)The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and ^[n]sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(AJ)It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

³³ And they said to Him, “^(AK)The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do ^[o]the same, but Yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the ^[p]attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? ^35 (AL)But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”