Old/New Testament
Plague Five: Disease
9 [a] Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has said, “Release my people that they may serve me! 2 For if you refuse to release them[b] and continue holding them,[c] 3 then the hand of the Lord will surely bring[d] a very terrible plague[e] on your livestock in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels,[f] the herds, and the flocks. 4 But the Lord will distinguish[g] between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing[h] will die of all that the Israelites have.”’”[i]
5 The Lord set[j] an appointed time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this[k] in the land.” 6 And the Lord did this[l] on the next day;[m] all[n] the livestock of the Egyptians[o] died, but of the Israelites’ livestock not one died. 7 Pharaoh sent representatives to investigate,[p] and indeed, not even one of the livestock of Israel had died. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard,[q] and he did not release the people.
Plague Six: Boils
8 [r] Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot[s] from a furnace, and have Moses throw it[t] into the air while Pharaoh is watching.[u] 9 It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt and will cause boils to break out and fester[v] on both people and animals in all the land of Egypt.” 10 So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh, Moses threw it into the air, and it caused festering boils to break out on both people and animals.
11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. 12 But the Lord hardened[w] Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted to Moses.
Plague Seven: Hail
13 [x] The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand[y] before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has said: “Release my people so that they may serve me! 14 For this time I will send all my plagues[z] on your very self[aa] and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out[ab] my hand and struck you and your people with plague, and you would have been destroyed[ac] from the earth. 16 But[ad] for this purpose I have caused you to stand:[ae] to show you[af] my strength, and so that my name may be declared[ag] in all the earth. 17 You are still exalting[ah] yourself against my people by[ai] not releasing them. 18 I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down[aj] about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred[ak] in Egypt from the day it was founded[al] until now. 19 So now, send instructions[am] to gather[an] your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person[ao] or animal caught[ap] in the field and not brought into the house—the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”
20 Those[aq] of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the Lord’s message hurried to bring their servants and livestock into the houses, 21 but those[ar] who did not take[as] the Lord’s message seriously left their servants and their cattle in the field.
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sky[at] that there may be[au] hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals,[av] and on everything that grows[aw] in the field in the land of Egypt.” 23 When Moses extended[ax] his staff toward the sky, the Lord[ay] sent thunder[az] and hail, and fire fell to the earth;[ba] so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt. 24 Hail fell[bb] and fire mingled[bc] with the hail; the hail was so severe[bd] that there had not been any like it[be] in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 25 The hail struck everything in the open fields, both[bf] people and animals, throughout all the land of Egypt. The hail struck everything that grows[bg] in the field, and it broke all the trees of the field to pieces. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was there no hail.
27 So Pharaoh sent and summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time![bh] The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are guilty.[bi] 28 Pray to the Lord, for the mighty[bj] thunderings and hail are too much![bk] I will release you and you will stay no longer.”[bl]
29 Moses said to him, “When I leave the city[bm] I will spread my hands to the Lord, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord.[bn] 30 But as for you[bo] and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear[bp] the Lord God.”
31 (Now the[bq] flax and the barley were struck[br] by the hail,[bs] for the barley had ripened[bt] and the flax[bu] was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt[bv] were not struck, for they are later crops.)[bw]
33 So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain stopped pouring on the earth. 34 When Pharaoh saw[bx] that the rain and hail and thunder ceased, he sinned again:[by] both he and his servants hardened[bz] their hearts. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard,[ca] and he did not release the Israelites, as the Lord had predicted through Moses.
Plague Eight: Locusts
10 [cb] The Lord said[cc] to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order to display[cd] these signs of mine before him,[ce] 2 and in order that in the hearing of your son and your grandson you may tell[cf] how I made fools[cg] of the Egyptians[ch] and about[ci] my signs that I displayed[cj] among them, so that you may know[ck] that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has said: ‘How long do you refuse[cl] to humble yourself before me?[cm] Release my people so that they may serve me! 4 But if you refuse to release my people, I am going to bring[cn] locusts[co] into your territory[cp] tomorrow. 5 They will cover[cq] the surface[cr] of the earth, so that you[cs] will be unable to see the ground. They will eat the remainder of what escaped[ct]—what is left over[cu] for you—from the hail, and they will eat every tree that grows for you from the field. 6 They will fill your houses, the houses of your servants, and all the houses of Egypt, such as[cv] neither[cw] your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since they have been[cx] in the land until this day!’” Then Moses[cy] turned and went out from Pharaoh.
7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long[cz] will this man be a menace[da] to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know[db] that Egypt is destroyed?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. Exactly who is going with you?”[dc] 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our sheep and our cattle we will go, because we are to hold[dd] a pilgrim feast for the Lord.”
10 He said to them, “The Lord will need to be with you[de] if I release you and your dependents![df] Watch out![dg] Trouble is right in front of you.[dh] 11 No![di] Go, you men[dj] only, and serve the Lord, for that[dk] is what you want.”[dl] Then Moses and Aaron[dm] were driven[dn] out of Pharaoh’s presence.
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand over the land of Egypt for[do] the locusts, that they may come up over the land of Egypt and eat everything that grows[dp] in the ground, everything that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Lord[dq] brought[dr] an east wind on the land all that day and all night.[ds] The morning came,[dt] and the east wind had brought up[du] the locusts! 14 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory[dv] of Egypt. It was very severe;[dw] there had been no locusts like them before, nor will there be such ever again.[dx] 15 They covered[dy] the surface[dz] of all the ground so that the ground became dark with them,[ea] and they ate all the vegetation of the ground and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or on anything that grew in the fields throughout the whole land of Egypt.
16 [eb] Then Pharaoh quickly[ec] summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned[ed] against the Lord your God and against you! 17 So now, forgive my sin this time only, and pray to the Lord your God that he would only[ee] take this death[ef] away from me.” 18 Moses[eg] went out[eh] from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, 19 and the Lord turned a very strong west wind,[ei] and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea.[ej] Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites.
Plague Nine: Darkness
21 [ek] The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward heaven[el] so that there may be[em] darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness so thick it can be felt.”[en]
22 So Moses extended his hand toward heaven, and there was absolute darkness[eo] throughout the land of Egypt for three days.[ep] 23 No one[eq] could see[er] another person, and no one could rise from his place for three days. But the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.
24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord—only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your families[es] may go with you.”
25 But Moses said, “Will you also[et] provide us[eu] with sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may present them[ev] to the Lord our God? 26 Our livestock must[ew] also go with us! Not a hoof is to be left behind! For we must take[ex] these animals[ey] to serve the Lord our God. Until we arrive there, we do not know what we must use to serve the Lord.”[ez]
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to release them. 28 Pharaoh said to him, “Go from me![fa] Watch out for yourself! Do not appear before me again,[fb] for when[fc] you see my face you will die!” 29 Moses said, “As you wish![fd] I will not see your face again.”[fe]
Plague Ten: Death
11 [ff] The Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will release you from this place. When he releases you,[fg] he will drive you out completely[fh] from this place. 2 Instruct[fi] the people that each man and each woman is to request[fj] from his or her neighbor[fk] items of silver and gold.”[fl]
3 (Now the Lord granted the people favor with[fm] the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh’s servants and by the Egyptian people.)[fn]
4 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,[fo] 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh[fp] who sits on his throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has never been,[fq] nor ever will be again.[fr] 7 But against any of the Israelites not even a dog will bark[fs] against either people or animals,[ft] so that you may know that the Lord distinguishes[fu] between Egypt and Israel.’ 8 All these your servants will come down to me and bow down[fv] to me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow[fw] you,’ and after that I will go out.” Then Moses[fx] went out from Pharaoh in great anger.
9 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders[fy] may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites from his land.
A Canaanite Woman’s Faith
21 After going out from there, Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A[a] Canaanite woman from that area came[b] and cried out,[c] “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!” 23 But he did not answer her a word. Then[d] his disciples came and begged him,[e] “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.” 24 So[f] he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and bowed down[g] before him and said,[h] “Lord, help me!” 26 “It is not right[i] to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,”[j] he said.[k] 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied,[l] “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then[m] Jesus answered her, “Woman,[n] your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Healing Many Others
29 When he left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain, where he sat down. 30 Then[o] large crowds came to him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They[p] laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.
The Feeding of the Four Thousand
32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?” 34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven—and a few small fish.” 35 After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds.[q] 37 They[r] all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 38 Not counting children and women,[s] there were 4,000 men who ate.[t] 39 After sending away the crowd, he got into the boat[u] and went to the region of Magadan.[v]
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