EXODUS 4:1- 5:21
MATTHEW 18:1- 20
PSALM 22:19- 31
PROVERBS 5:15- 21
But Moses protested again, "Look, they won't believe me! They won't do what I tell them. They'll just say, `The LORD never appeared to you." 2 Then the LORD asked him, "What do you have there in your hand?" "A shepherd's staff," Moses replied. 3 "Throw it down on the ground," the LORD told him. So Moses threw it down, and it became a snake! Moses was terrified, so he turned and ran away. 4 Then the LORD told him, "Take hold of its tail." So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it became a shepherd's staff again. 5 "Perform this sign, and they will believe you," the LORD told him. "Then they will realize that the LORD, the God of their ancestors-- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob-- really has appeared to you." 6 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Put your hand inside your robe." Moses did so, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with leprosy. 7 "Now put your hand back into your robe again," the LORD said. Moses did, and when he took it out this time, it was as healthy as the rest of his body. 8 "If they do not believe the first miraculous sign, they will believe the second," the LORD said. 9 "And if they do not believe you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, it will turn into blood." 10 But Moses pleaded with the LORD, "O Lord, I'm just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I'm not now, even after you have spoken to me. I'm clumsy with words." 11 "Who makes mouths?" the LORD asked him. "Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say." 13 But Moses again pleaded, "Lord, please! Send someone else." 14 Then the LORD became angry with Moses. "All right," he said. "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? He is a good speaker. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. And when he sees you, he will be very glad. 15 You will talk to him, giving him the words to say. I will help both of you to speak clearly, and I will tell you what to do. 16 Aaron will be your spokesman to the people, and you will be as God to him, telling him what to say. 17 And be sure to take your shepherd's staff along so you can perform the miraculous signs I have shown you." 18 Then Moses went back home and talked it over with Jethro, his father- in- law. "With your permission," Moses said, "I would like to go back to Egypt to visit my family. I don't even know whether they are still alive." "Go with my blessing," Jethro replied. 19 Before Moses left Midian, the LORD said to him, "Do not be afraid to return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead." 20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God. 21 Then the LORD reminded him, "When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will make him stubborn so he will not let the people go. 22 Then you will tell him, `This is what the LORD says:Israel is my firstborn son. 23 I commanded you to let him go, so he could worship me. But since you have refused, be warned! I will kill your firstborn son!'" 24 On the journey, when Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the LORD confronted Moses and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah, his wife, took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She threw the foreskin at Moses 'feet and said, "What a blood- smeared bridegroom you are to me!" 26 (When she called Moses a "blood- smeared bridegroom," she was referring to the circumcision.) After that, the LORD left him alone. 27 Now the LORD had said to Aaron, "Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses." So Aaron traveled to the mountain of God, where he found Moses and greeted him warmly. 28 Moses then told Aaron everything the LORD had commanded them to do and say. And he told him about the miraculous signs they were to perform. 29 So Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called the leaders of Israel to a meeting. 30 Aaron told them everything the LORD had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched. 31 The leaders were soon convinced that the LORD had sent Moses and Aaron. And when they realized that the LORD had seen their misery and was deeply concerned for them, they all bowed their heads and worshiped. 5:1 AFTER this presentation to Israel's leaders, Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They told him, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:`Let my people go, for they must go out into the wilderness to hold a religious festival in my honor.'" 2 "Is that so?" retorted Pharaoh. "And who is the LORD that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I don't know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go." 3 But Aaron and Moses persisted. "The God of the Hebrews has met with us," they declared. "Let us take a three- day trip into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the LORD our God. If we don't, we will surely die by disease or the sword." 4 "Who do you think you are," Pharaoh shouted, "distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! 5 Look, there are many people here in Egypt, and you are stopping them from doing their work." 6 That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the slave drivers and foremen he had set over the people of Israel:7 "Do not supply the people with any more straw for making bricks. Let them get it themselves! 8 But don't reduce their production quotas by a single brick. They obviously don't have enough to do. If they did, they wouldn't be talking about going into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to their God. 9 Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to these liars!" 10 So the slave drivers and foremen informed the people:"Pharaoh has ordered us not to provide straw for you. 11 Go and get it yourselves. Find it wherever you can. But you must produce just as many bricks as before!" 12 So the people scattered throughout the land in search of straw. 13 The slave drivers were brutal. "Meet your daily quota of bricks, just as you did before!" they demanded. 14 Then they whipped the Israelite foremen in charge of the work crews. "Why haven't you met your quotas either yesterday or today?" they demanded. 15 So the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. "Please don't treat us like this," they begged. 16 "We are given no straw, but we are still told to make as many bricks as before. We are beaten for something that isn't our fault! It is the fault of your slave drivers for making such unreasonable demands." 17 But Pharaoh replied, "You're just lazy! You obviously don't have enough to do. If you did, you wouldn't be saying, `Let us go, so we can offer sacrifices to the LORD. '18 Now, get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you must still deliver the regular quota of bricks." 19 Since Pharaoh would not let up on his demands, the Israelite foremen could see that they were in serious trouble. 20 As they left Pharaoh's court, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting outside for them. 21 The foremen said to them, "May the LORD judge you for getting us into this terrible situation with Pharaoh and his officials. You have given them an excuse to kill us!"
About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Which of us is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?" 2 Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, "I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5 And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. 6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck. 7" How terrible it will be for anyone who causes others to sin. Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but how terrible it will be for the person who does the tempting. 8 So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to enter heaven crippled or lame than to be thrown into the unquenchable fire with both of your hands and feet. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better to enter heaven half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. 10 "Beware that you don't despise a single one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father. 12" If a shepherd has one hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety- nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? 13 And if he finds it, he will surely rejoice over it more than over the ninety- nine that didn't wander away! 14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father's will that even one of these little ones should perish. 15 "If another believer *sins against you, go privately and point out the fault. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If that person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. If the church decides you are right, but the other person won't accept it, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. 18 I tell you this:Whatever you prohibit on earth is prohibited in heaven, and whatever you allow on earth is allowed in heaven. 19" I also tell you this:If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them. "
O LORD, do not stay away!
You are my strength; come quickly to my aid!
20 Rescue me from a violent death;
spare my precious life from these dogs.
21 Snatch me from the lions' jaws,
and from the horns of these wild oxen.
22 Then I will declare the wonder of your name to my brothers and sisters.
I will praise you among all your people.
23 Praise the LORD, all you who fear him!
Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob!
Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not ignored the suffering of the needy.
He has not turned and walked away.
He has listened to their cries for help.
25 I will praise you among all the people;
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied.
All who seek the LORD will praise him.
Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
27 The whole earth will acknowledge the LORD and return to him.
People from every nation will bow down before him.
28 For the LORD is king!
He rules all the nations.
29 Let the rich of the earth feast and worship.
Let all mortals-- those born to die-- bow down in his presence.
30 Future generations will also serve him.
Our children will hear about the wonders of the Lord.
31 His righteous acts will be told to those yet unborn.
They will hear about everything he has done.
Drink water from your own well-- share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in public, having sex with just anyone? You should reserve it for yourselves. Don't share it with strangers. Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a loving doe, a graceful deer. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. Why be captivated, my son, with an immoral woman, or embrace the breasts of an adulterous woman? For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes
