Old/New Testament
7 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God[a] to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.[b] 2 You are to speak[c] everything I command you,[d] and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh that he must release[e] the Israelites from his land. 3 But I will harden[f] Pharaoh’s heart, and although I will multiply[g] my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you.[h] I will reach into[i] Egypt and bring out my regiments,[j] my people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 5 Then[k] the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I extend my hand[l] over Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”
6 And Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Now Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 The Lord said[m] to Moses and Aaron,[n] 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do[o] a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down[p] before Pharaoh,’ it will become[q] a snake.” 10 When[r] Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them—Aaron threw down[s] his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake.[t] 11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers,[u] and the magicians[v] of Egypt by their secret arts[w] did the same thing. 12 Each man[x] threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard,[y] and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
Plague One: Water to Blood
14 [z] The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard;[aa] he refuses to release[ab] the people. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when[ac] he goes out to the water. Position yourself[ad] to meet him by the edge of the Nile,[ae] and take[af] in your hand the staff[ag] that was turned into a snake. 16 Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say,[ah] “Release my people, that they may serve me[ai] in the wilderness!” But until now[aj] you have not listened.[ak] 17 This is what the Lord has said: “By this you will know that I am the Lord: I am going to strike[al] the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood.[am] 18 Fish[an] in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable[ao] to drink water from the Nile.”’” 19 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters—over their rivers, over their canals,[ap] over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs[aq]—so that it becomes[ar] blood.’ There will be blood everywhere in[as] the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.” 20 Moses and Aaron did so,[at] just as the Lord had commanded. He raised[au] the staff[av] and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes[aw] of Pharaoh and his servants,[ax] and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood.[ay] 21 When the fish[az] that were in the Nile died, the Nile began[ba] to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood[bb] everywhere in the land of Egypt! 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same[bc] by their secret arts, and so[bd] Pharaoh’s heart remained hard,[be] and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron[bf]—just as the Lord had predicted. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not pay any attention to this.[bg] 24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink,[bh] because they could not drink the water of the Nile.
Plague Two: Frogs
25 [bi] Seven full days passed[bj] after the Lord struck[bk] the Nile. 8 1 (7:26)[bl] Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Release my people in order that they may serve me! 2 But if you refuse to release them, then I am going to plague[bm] all your territory with frogs.[bn] 3 The Nile will swarm[bo] with frogs, and they will come up and go into your house, in your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading troughs.[bp] 4 Frogs[bq] will come up against you, your people, and all your servants.”’”[br]
5 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff[bs] over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.’” 6 So Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs[bt] came up and covered the land of Egypt.
7 The magicians did the same[bu] with their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt too.[bv]
8 Then Pharaoh summoned[bw] Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray[bx] to the Lord that he may take the frogs away[by] from me and my people, and I will release[bz] the people that they may sacrifice[ca] to the Lord.” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me[cb]—when shall I pray for you, your servants, and your people, for the frogs to be removed[cc] from you and your houses, so that[cd] they will be left[ce] only in the Nile?” 10 He said, “Tomorrow.” And Moses said,[cf] “It will be[cg] as you say,[ch] so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will depart from you, your houses, your servants, and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.”
12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried[ci] to the Lord because of[cj] the frogs that he had brought on[ck] Pharaoh. 13 The Lord did as Moses asked[cl]—the frogs died[cm] in the houses, the villages, and the fields. 14 The Egyptians[cn] piled them in countless heaps,[co] and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief,[cp] he hardened[cq] his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.[cr]
Plague Three: Gnats
16 [cs] The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become[ct] gnats[cu] throughout all the land of Egypt.’” 17 They did so; Aaron extended his hand with his staff, he struck the dust of the ground, and it became gnats on people[cv] and on animals. All the dust of the ground became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. 18 When[cw] the magicians attempted[cx] to bring forth gnats by their secret arts, they could not. So there were gnats on people and on animals. 19 The magicians said[cy] to Pharaoh, “It is the finger[cz] of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard,[da] and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
Plague Four: Flies
20 [db] The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and position yourself before Pharaoh as he goes out to the water, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord has said, “Release my people that they may serve me! 21 If you do not release[dc] my people, then I am going to send[dd] swarms of flies[de] on you and on your servants and on your people and in your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground they stand on.[df] 22 But on that day I will mark off[dg] the land of Goshen, where my people are staying,[dh] so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of this land.[di] 23 I will put a division[dj] between my people and your people. This sign will take place[dk] tomorrow.”’” 24 The Lord did so; a[dl] thick[dm] swarm of flies came into[dn] Pharaoh’s house and into the houses[do] of his servants, and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined[dp] because of the swarms of flies.
25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.”[dq] 26 But Moses said, “That would not be the right thing to do,[dr] for the sacrifices we make[ds] to the Lord our God would be an abomination[dt] to the Egyptians.[du] If we make sacrifices that are an abomination to the Egyptians right before their eyes,[dv] will they not stone us?[dw] 27 We must go[dx] on a three-day journey[dy] into the wilderness and sacrifice[dz] to the Lord our God, just as he is telling us.”[ea]
28 Pharaoh said, “I will release you[eb] so that you may sacrifice[ec] to the Lord your God in the wilderness. Only you must not go very far.[ed] Do[ee] pray for me.”
29 Moses said, “I am going to go out[ef] from you and pray to the Lord, and the swarms of flies will go away from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Only do not let Pharaoh deal falsely again[eg] by not releasing[eh] the people to sacrifice to the Lord.” 30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, 31 and the Lord did as Moses asked[ei]—he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained! 32 But Pharaoh hardened[ej] his heart this time also and did not release the people.
Breaking Human Traditions
15 Then Pharisees[a] and experts in the law[b] came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said,[c] 2 “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their[d] hands when they eat.”[e] 3 He answered them,[f] “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God said,[g] ‘Honor your father and mother’[h] and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’[i] 5 But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,”[j] 6 he does not need to honor his father.’[k] You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,
8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart[l] is far from me,
9 and they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”[m]
True Defilement
10 Then he called the crowd to him and said,[n] “Listen and understand. 11 What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what[o] comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that when the Pharisees[p] heard this saying they were offended?” 13 And he replied,[q] “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them! They are blind guides.[r] If someone who is blind leads another who is blind,[s] both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter[t] said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16 Jesus[u] said, “Even after all this, are you still so foolish? 17 Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer?[v] 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.”[w]
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