Bible Reading Plan – Day 17

₁Then Moses and Aaron went to the king of Egypt and said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Let my people go, so that they can hold a festival in the desert to honour me.’ ”

₂“Who is the LORD?” the king demanded. “Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD; and I will not let Israel go.”

₃Moses and Aaron replied, “The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us. Allow us to travel for three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God. If we don't do so, he will kill us with disease or by war.”

₄The king said to Moses and Aaron, “What do you mean by making the people neglect their work? Get those slaves back to work! ₅You people have become more numerous than the Egyptians. And now you want to stop working!”

₆That same day the king commanded the Egyptian slave-drivers and the Israelite foremen: ₇“Stop giving the people straw for making bricks. Make them go and find it for themselves. ₈But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before, not one brick less. They haven't enough work to do, and that is why they keep asking me to let them go and offer sacrifices to their God! ₉Make these people work harder and keep them busy, so that they won't have time to listen to a pack of lies.”

₁₀The slave-drivers and the Israelite foremen went out and said to the Israelites, “The king has said that he will not supply you with any more straw. ₁₁He says that you must go and get it for yourselves wherever you can find it, but you must still make the same number of bricks.” ₁₂So the people went all over Egypt looking for straw. ₁₃The slave-drivers kept trying to force them to make the same number of bricks every day as they had made when they were given straw. ₁₄The Egyptian slave-drivers beat the Israelite foremen, whom they had put in charge of the work. They demanded, “Why aren't you people making the same number of bricks as you made before?”

₁₅Then the foremen went to the king and complained, “Why do you do this to us, Your Majesty? ₁₆We are given no straw, but we are still ordered to make bricks! And now we are being beaten. It is your people that are at fault.”

₁₇The king answered, “You are lazy and don't want to work, and that is why you ask me to let you go and offer sacrifices to the LORD. ₁₈Now get back to work! You will not be given any straw, but you must still make the same number of bricks.” ₁₉The foremen realized that they were in trouble when they were told that they had to make the same number of bricks every day as they had made before.

₂₀As they were leaving, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them. ₂₁They said to Moses and Aaron, “The LORD has seen what you have done and will punish you for making the king and his officers hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us.”

₂₂Then Moses turned to the LORD again and said, “Lord, why do you ill-treat your people? Why did you send me here? ₂₃Ever since I went to the king to speak for you, he has treated them cruelly. And you have done nothing to help them!”

₁Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you are going to see what I will do to the king. I will force him to let my people go. In fact, I will force him to drive them out of his land.”

₂God spoke to Moses and said, “I am the LORD. ₃I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as Almighty God, but I did not make myself known to them by my holy name, the LORD. ₄I also made my covenant with them, promising to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they had lived as foreigners. ₅Now I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have remembered my covenant. ₆So tell the Israelites that I say to them, ‘I am the LORD; I will rescue you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible punishment upon them, and I will save you. ₇I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the LORD your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt. ₈I will bring you to the land that I solemnly promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as your own possession. I am the LORD.’ ” ₉Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to him, because their spirit had been broken by their cruel slavery.

₁₀Then the LORD said to Moses, ₁₁“Go and tell the king of Egypt that he must let the Israelites leave his land.”

₁₂But Moses replied, “Even the Israelites will not listen to me, so why should the king? I am such a poor speaker.”

₁₃The LORD commanded Moses and Aaron: “Tell the Israelites and the king of Egypt that I have ordered you to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.”

₁₄Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, had four sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; they were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names. ₁₅Simeon had six sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; they were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names. ₁₆Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; they were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names. Levi lived 137 years. ₁₇Gershon had two sons: Libni and Shimei, and they had many descendants. ₁₈Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. ₁₉Merari had two sons: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi with their descendants.

₂₀Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. ₂₁Izhar had three sons: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ₂₂Uzziel also had three sons: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

₂₃Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon; she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ₂₄Korah had three sons: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; they were the ancestors of the divisions of the clan of Korah. ₂₅Eleazar, Aaron's son, married one of Putiel's daughters, who bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the families and the clans of the tribe of Levi.

₂₆Aaron and Moses were the ones to whom the LORD said, “Lead the tribes of Israel out of Egypt.” ₂₇They were the men who told the king of Egypt to free the Israelites.

₂₈When the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ₂₉he said, “I am the LORD. Tell the king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

₃₀But Moses answered, “You know that I am such a poor speaker; why should the king listen to me?”

₁The LORD said, “I am going to make you like God to the king, and your brother Aaron will speak to him as your prophet. ₂Tell Aaron everything I command you, and he will tell the king to let the Israelites leave his country. _3-4But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not listen to you, no matter how many terrifying things I do in Egypt. Then I will bring severe punishment on Egypt and lead the tribes of my people out of the land. ₅The Egyptians will then know that I am the LORD, when I raise my hand against them and bring the Israelites out of their country.” ₆Moses and Aaron did what the LORD commanded. ₇At the time when they spoke to the king, Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was 83.

₈The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ₉“If the king demands that you prove yourselves by performing a miracle, tell Aaron to take his stick and throw it down in front of the king, and it will turn into a snake.” ₁₀So Moses and Aaron went to the king and did as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his stick down in front of the king and his officers, and it turned into a snake. ₁₁Then the king called for his wise men and magicians, and by their magic they did the same thing. ₁₂They threw down their sticks, and the sticks turned into snakes. But Aaron's stick swallowed theirs. ₁₃The king, however, remained stubborn and, just as the LORD had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

₁₄Then the LORD said to Moses, “The king is very stubborn and refuses to let the people go. ₁₅So go and meet him in the morning when he goes down to the Nile. Take with you the stick that was turned into a snake, and wait for him on the bank of the river. ₁₆Then say to the king, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to tell you to let his people go, so that they can worship him in the desert. But until now you have not listened. ₁₇Now, Your Majesty, the LORD says that you will find out who he is by what he is going to do. Look, I am going to strike the surface of the river with this stick, and the water will be turned into blood. ₁₈The fish will die, and the river will stink so much that the Egyptians will not be able to drink from it.’ ”

₁₉The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to take his stick and hold it out over all the rivers, canals, and pools in Egypt. The water will become blood, and all over the land there will be blood, even in the wooden tubs and stone jars.”

₂₀Then Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the presence of the king and his officers, Aaron raised his stick and struck the surface of the river, and all the water in it was turned into blood. ₂₁The fish in the river died, and it smelt so bad that the Egyptians could not drink from it. There was blood everywhere in Egypt. ₂₂Then the king's magicians did the same thing by means of their magic, and the king was as stubborn as ever. Just as the LORD had said, the king refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. ₂₃Instead, he turned and went back to his palace without paying any attention even to this. ₂₄All the Egyptians dug along the bank of the river for drinking water, because they were not able to drink water from the river.

₂₅Seven days passed after the LORD struck the river.

₁Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the king and tell him that the LORD says, ‘Let my people go, so that they can worship me. ₂If you refuse, I will punish your country by covering it with frogs. ₃The Nile will be so full of frogs that they will leave it and go into your palace, your bedroom, your bed, the houses of your officials and your people, and even into your ovens and baking pans. ₄They will jump up on you, your people, and all your officials.’ ”

₅The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to hold out his stick over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up and cover the land of Egypt.” ₆So Aaron held it out over all the water, and the frogs came out and covered the land. ₇But the magicians used magic, and they too made frogs come up on the land.

₈The king called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take away these frogs, and I will let your people go, so that they can offer sacrifices to the LORD.”

₉Moses replied, “I will be glad to pray for you. Just set the time when I am to pray for you, your officers, and your people. Then you will be rid of the frogs, and there will be none left except in the Nile.”

₁₀The king answered, “Pray for me tomorrow.”

Moses said, “I will do as you ask, and then you will know that there is no other god like the LORD, our God. ₁₁You, your officials, and your people will be rid of the frogs, and there will be none left except in the Nile.” ₁₂Then Moses and Aaron left the king, and Moses prayed to the LORD to take away the frogs which he had brought on the king. ₁₃The LORD did as Moses asked, and the frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died. ₁₄The Egyptians piled them up in great heaps, until the land stank with them. ₁₅When the king saw that the frogs were dead, he became stubborn again and, just as the LORD had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

₁₆The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to strike the ground with his stick, and all over the land of Egypt the dust will change into gnats.” ₁₇So Aaron struck the ground with his stick, and all the dust in Egypt was turned into gnats, which covered the people and the animals. ₁₈The magicians tried to use their magic to make gnats appear, but they failed. There were gnats everywhere, ₁₉and the magicians said to the king, “God has done this!” But the king was stubborn and, just as the LORD had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.