Parashat Beshalach

¹⁷ After Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, although that was nearby, for God said, “The people might change their minds if they see war and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds, and Bnei-Yisrael went up out of the land of Egypt armed.

¹⁹ Moses also took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made Bnei-Yisrael swear an oath saying, “God will surely remember you, and then you are to carry my bones away with you.”^[a]

²⁰ So they journeyed from Succoth and encamped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ Adonai went before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead the way and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light. So they could travel both day and night. ^{[b] 22} The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never departed from the people.

Sea of Reeds Showdown

14 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ² “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael, so that they turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to camp by the sea, opposite Baal-zephon. ³ Pharaoh will say concerning Bnei-Yisrael, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land—the wilderness has shut them in!’ ⁴ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so he will follow after them. Then I will be glorified over Pharaoh along with all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Adonai.” So they did so.

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ So he prepared his chariots and took his people with him. ⁷ He took 600 of the finest chariots, along with all other chariots of Egypt, and captains over them. ⁸ Adonai hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so he pursued Bnei-Yisrael, for Bnei-Yisrael went out with a high hand. ⁹ But the Egyptians pursued them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, as well as his charioteers and his army, and overtook them as they were encamped by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth opposite Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh drew near, Bnei-Yisrael lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them! So they were terrified, and Bnei-Yisrael cried out to Adonai. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt? Why have you dealt this way with us, to bring us out of Egypt? ¹² Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone, so that we may serve the Egyptians?’ It was better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!”

¹³ But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still, and see the salvation of Adonai, which He will perform for you today. You have seen the Egyptians today, but you will never see them again, ever! ¹⁴ Adonai will fight for you, while you hold your peace.”

The Israelites are Deported to Assyria

17 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. ² He did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. ³ King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched against him, so Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Assyria caught Hoshea conspiring—he had sent messengers to King So of Egypt, and had not paid the tribute to the king of Assyria as he had done every year. Therefore the king of Assyria seized him and put him in prison. ⁵ Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire country, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He placed them in Halah and Habor, on the Gozan River, and in the towns of the Medes. ⁷ Now it was so because the men of Israel had sinned against Adonai their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods. ⁸ Instead they followed the customs of the nations, whom Adonai had dispossessed before Bnei-Yisrael, yet which the kings of Israel practiced. ⁹ Bnei-Yisrael secretly did things against Adonai their God that were not right. They built shrines for themselves in all their settlements—from watchtowers to fortified cities, ¹⁰ and they set up pillars and Asherah poles for themselves on every high hill and under every leafy tree. ¹¹ There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom Adonai had driven out before them. So they did wicked things to provoke Adonai. ¹² They worshipped idols, about which Adonai had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”

¹³ Yet Adonai had forewarned Israel and Judah by the hand of every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the Torah which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by the hand of My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ Yet they would not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not trust in Adonai their God. ¹⁵ So they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies that He testified against them. Instead they went after futile things and became futile, following the nations that surrounded them, about whom Adonai had charged them not to emulate. ¹⁶ So they abandoned all the mitzvot of Adonai their God. So they made for themselves molten images, two calves, and made an Asherah pole, and bowed down to all the host of heavens, and worshipped Baal, ¹⁷ and they made their sons and daughters pass through the fire, practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in Adonai’s eyes, to provoke Him.

¹⁸ So Adonai became very angry with Israel, and banished them from His presence. There was none left but the tribe of Judah alone.

¹⁹ Even Judah did not keep the mitzvot of Adonai their God, but followed the customs which Israel had practiced. ²⁰ So Adonai spurned all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and delivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.

²¹ When He had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drew Israel away from following Adonai and made them commit a great sin. ²² The men of Israel kept walking in all the sins that Jeroboam committed. They did not turn away from them, ²³ until Adonai banished Israel from His presence, as He spoke by the hand of all His servants the prophets. So Israel has been exiled from their own land to Assyria to this day.

Origin of the Samaritans

²⁴ Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the men of Israel. So they possessed Samaria and settled in its cities. ²⁵ When they first began dwelling there, they did not fear Adonai—so Adonai sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶ Then they spoke to the king of Assyria saying, “The nations that you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know the requirement of the God of the land. Therefore He has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them because they don’t know the requirement of the God of the land.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded saying, “Send there one of the kohanim whom you have exiled from there. Let them go and live there and teach them the requirement of the God of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the kohanim that had been deported from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Adonai.

²⁹ However, every nation kept making its own gods, and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made—every nation in their cities where they settled. ³⁰ So the people of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the people of Cuth made Nergal, the people of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹ the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³² So they feared Adonai, while they also appointed for themselves from among themselves priests of the shrines, who officiated for them in the shrines of the high places. ³³ They continued to fear Adonai, but worshipped their own gods, after the custom of the nations from which they had been deported.

³⁴ Up to this day, they follow their former customs. Nor do they fear Adonai, or follow the statutes, the ordinances, the Torah or the mitzvot that Adonai commanded the children of Jacob—whom He had renamed Israel. ³⁵ With them Adonai had made a covenant, and charged them saying, “You will not fear other gods, or bow down to them, or serve them, or sacrifice to them, ³⁶ but only Adonai, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm—Him will you fear, and to Him will you bow down and to Him will you sacrifice. ³⁷ The statutes and the ordinances, and the Torah and the mitzvah, which He wrote for you, you will take care to do all the time. You are not to fear other gods. ³⁸ The covenant that I have made with you, you will not forget. Nor will you fear other gods, ³⁹ but Adonai your God will you fear. Then He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”

⁴⁰ Yet they did not listen, but they continued their former practices. ⁴¹ So while these nations feared Adonai, they also worshipped their idols. Their children and grandchildren do as their fathers did to this day.

Mercy for a Sinful Woman

8 But Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. ² At dawn, He came again into the Temple. All the people were coming to Him, and He sat down and began to teach them.

³ The Torah scholars and Pharisees bring in a woman who had been caught in adultery. After putting her in the middle, ⁴ they say to Yeshua, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of committing adultery. ⁵ In the Torah, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?” ⁶ Now they were saying this to trap Him, so that they would have grounds to accuse Him.

But Yeshua knelt down and started writing in the dirt with His finger. ⁷ When they kept asking Him, He stood up and said, “The sinless one among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Then He knelt down again and continued writing on the ground.

⁹ Now when they heard, they began to leave, one by one, the oldest ones first, until Yeshua was left alone with the woman in the middle. ¹⁰ Straightening up, Yeshua said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”

¹¹ “No one, Sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Yeshua said. “Go, and sin no more.”

The Light of the World

¹² Yeshua spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows Me will no longer walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

¹³ Then the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself, so Your testimony is not valid.”

¹⁴ Yeshua answered them, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is valid. For I know where I came from and where I am going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge according to the flesh, but I do not judge anyone. ¹⁶ Yet even if I do judge, My judgment is true, because it is not I alone but I with the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷ Even in your Torah it is written that the testimony of two men is true. ^{[a] 18} I am one witness for Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness for Me.”

¹⁹ Then they said to Him, “Where is your Father?”

Yeshua answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you knew Me, you would also know My Father.” ²⁰ He spoke these words in the treasury while teaching in the Temple, but no one arrested Him because His hour had not yet come.

²¹ Then again Yeshua spoke to them, “I am going away. You will look for Me and die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”

²² “He won’t kill Himself, will He?” the Judeans asked. “Is that why He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

²³ Yeshua said, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴ Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. If you don’t believe that I am, you will die in your sins.”

²⁵ So they asked Him, “Who are you?”

Yeshua replied, “What have I been telling you from the beginning? ²⁶ I have much to say and judge about you. But the One who sent Me is true, and I tell the world what I heard from Him.” ²⁷ They didn’t understand that He was talking to them about the Father.

²⁸ So Yeshua said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am. I do nothing by Myself, but speak just what the Father has taught Me. ²⁹ The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to Him.”

³⁰ As He was speaking these things, many people put their trust in Him.

³¹ Then Yeshua said to the Judeans who had trusted Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly My disciples. ³² You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!”

³³ They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s children and have never been slaves to anyone! How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now the slave does not remain in the household forever; the son abides forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed! ³⁷ I know you are Abraham’s children; yet you are trying to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ³⁸ I tell of what I have seen with the Father; so also you do what you heard from the Father.”^[b]

³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they replied to Him.

Yeshua said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. ⁴⁰ But now you are seeking to kill Me—a Man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do! ⁴¹ You are doing the deeds of your father.”

They said to Him, “We were not born as illegitimate children—we have one Father, God Himself!”

⁴² Yeshua said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for from God I came and now I am here. For I have not come on My own, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why don’t you understand My speech? Because you’re not able to hear My word! ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks lies he is just being himself—for he is a liar and the father of lies.

⁴⁵ “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts Me of sinning? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe Me? ⁴⁷ He who belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you don’t hear^[c] is because you do not belong to God.”

⁴⁸ The Judean leaders responded, “Aren’t we right to say you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

⁴⁹ Yeshua answered, “I do not have a demon! I honor My Father, yet you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰ But I do not seek My own glory; there is One who is seeking and judging. ⁵¹ Amen, amen I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”

⁵² “Now we know You have a demon!” the Judean leaders said to Him. “Abraham and the prophets died. Yet You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste death.’ ⁵³ You are not greater than our father Abraham who died, are You? The prophets also died! Who do You make Yourself out to be?”

⁵⁴ Yeshua answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father who gives Me glory—the One of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ ^{[d] 55} Yet you do not know Him, but I know Him. If I say I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you. Yet I do know Him and keep His Word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; he saw it and was thrilled.”

⁵⁷ Then the Judeans said to Him, “You’re not even fifty years old and you’ve seen Abraham?”^[e]

⁵⁸ Yeshua answered, “Amen, amen I tell you, before Abraham was, I am!”

⁵⁹ Then they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Yeshua hid Himself and went out from the Temple.^[f]