Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
The One Year Bible TLB (24 page)
January 28Then Moses went back to the Lord. “Lord,” he protested, “how can you mistreat your own people like this? Why did you ever send me if you were going to do this to them?
23
Ever since I gave Pharaoh your message, he has only been more and more brutal to them, and you have not delivered them at all!”
6:
1
“Now you will see what I shall do to Pharaoh,” the Lord told Moses. “For he must be forced to let my people go; he will not only let them go, but will
drive them out of his land!
2-3
I am Jehovah, the Almighty God who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—though I did not reveal my name, Jehovah, to them.
4
And I entered into a solemn covenant with them; under its terms I promised to give them and their descendants the land of Canaan where they were living.
5
And now I have heard the groanings of the people of Israel, in slavery now to the Egyptians, and I remember my promise.
6
“Therefore tell the descendants of Israel that I will use my mighty power and perform great miracles to deliver them from slavery and make them free.
7
And I will accept them as my people and be their God. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God who has rescued them from the Egyptians.
8-9
I will bring them into the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It shall belong to my people.”
So Moses told the people what God had said, but they wouldn’t listen anymore because they were too dispirited after the tragic consequence of what he had said before.
*
10
Now the Lord spoke to Moses again and told him,
11
“Go back again to Pharaoh and tell him that he
must
let the people of Israel go.”
12
“But look,” Moses objected, “my own people won’t even listen to me anymore; how can I expect Pharaoh to? I’m no orator!”
13
Then the Lord ordered Moses and Aaron to return to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, demanding that the people be permitted to leave.
14
These are the names of the heads of the clans of the various tribes of Israel:
The sons of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi.
15
The heads of the clans of the tribe of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, Shaul (whose mother was a Canaanite).
16
These are the names of the heads of the clans of the tribe of Levi, in the order of their ages:
*
Gershon, Kohath, Merari. (Levi lived 137 years.)
17
The sons of Gershon were: Libni, Shime-i (and their clans).
18
The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel. (Kohath lived 133 years.)
19
The sons of Merari: Mahli, Mushi.
The above are the families of the Levites, listed according to their ages.
20
And Amram
*
married Jochebed, his father’s sister; and Aaron and Moses were their sons.
Amram lived to the age of 137.
21
The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, Zichri.
22
The sons of Uzziel: Misha-el, Elzaphan, Sithri.
23
Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon. Their children were: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar.
24
The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, Abiasaph.
These are the families within the clan of Korah.
25
Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Puti-el, and Phinehas was one of his children. These are all the names of the heads of the clans of the Levites and the families within the clans.
26
Aaron and Moses, included in that list, are the same Aaron and Moses to whom Jehovah said, “Lead all the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,”
27
and who went to Pharaoh to ask permission to lead the people from the land,
28-29
and to whom the Lord said, “I am Jehovah. Go in and give Pharaoh the message I have given you.”
30
This is that Moses who argued with the Lord, “I can’t do it; I’m no speaker—why should Pharaoh listen to
me?”
7:
1
Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have appointed you as my ambassador to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, shall be your spokesman.
2
Tell Aaron everything I say to you, and he will announce it to Pharaoh, demanding that the people of Israel be allowed to leave Egypt.
3
But I will cause Pharaoh to stubbornly refuse, and I will multiply my miracles in the land of Egypt.
4
Yet even then Pharaoh won’t listen to you; so I will crush Egypt with a final major disaster and then lead my people out.
5
The Egyptians will find out that I am indeed God when I show them my power and force them to let my people go.”
6
So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them.
7
Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three at this time of their confrontation with Pharaoh.
8
Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
9
“Pharaoh will demand that you show him a miracle to prove that God has sent you; when he does, Aaron is to throw down his rod, and it will become a serpent.”
10
So Moses and Aaron went in to see Pharaoh, and performed the miracle, as Jehovah had instructed them—Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh and his court, and it became a serpent.
11
Then Pharaoh called in his sorcerers—the magicians of Egypt—and they were able to do the same thing with their magical arts!
12
Their rods became serpents, too! But Aaron’s serpent swallowed their serpents!
13
Pharaoh’s heart was still hard and stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen, just as the Lord had predicted.
14
The Lord pointed this out to Moses, that Pharaoh’s heart had been unmoved, and that he would continue to refuse to let the people go.
15
“Nevertheless,” the Lord said, “go back to Pharaoh in the morning, to be there as he goes down to the river. Stand beside the riverbank and meet him there, holding in your hand the rod that turned into a serpent.
16
Say to him, ‘Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me back to demand that you let his people go to worship him in the wilderness. You wouldn’t listen before,
17
and now the Lord says this: “You are going to find out that I am God. For I have instructed Moses to hit the water of the Nile with his rod, and the river will turn to blood!
18
The fish will die and the river will stink, so that the Egyptians will be unwilling to drink it.”’”
19
Then the Lord instructed Moses: “Tell Aaron to point his rod toward the waters of Egypt: all its rivers, canals, marshes, and reservoirs, and even the water stored in bowls and pots in the homes will turn to blood.”
20
So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron hit the surface of the Nile with the rod, and the river turned to blood.
21
The fish died and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it; and there was blood throughout the land of Egypt.
22
But then the magicians of Egypt used their secret arts and they, too, turned water into blood; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hard and stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted,
23
and he returned to his palace, unimpressed.
24
Then the Egyptians dug wells along the riverbank to get drinking water, for they couldn’t drink from the river.
25
A week went by.
Then Peter came to him and asked, “Sir, how often should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Seven times?”
22
“No!”
Jesus replied,
“seventy times seven!
23
“The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date.
24
In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him $10 million!
*
25
He couldn’t pay, so the king ordered him sold for the debt, also his wife and children and everything he had.
26
“But the man fell down before the king, his face in the dust, and said, ‘Oh, sir, be patient with me and I will pay it all.’
27
“Then the king was filled with pity for him and released him and forgave his debt.
28
“But when the man left the king, he went to a man who owed him $2,000
*
and grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
29
“The man fell down before him and begged him to give him a little time. ‘Be patient and I will pay it,’ he pled.
30
“But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt would be paid in full.
31
“Then the man’s friends went to the king and told him what had happened.
32
And the king called before him the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil-hearted wretch! Here I forgave you all that tremendous debt, just because you asked me to—
33
shouldn’t you have mercy on others, just as I had mercy on you?’
34
“Then the angry king sent the man to the torture chamber until he had paid every last penny due.
35
So shall my heavenly Father do to you if you refuse to truly forgive your brothers.”
19:
1
After Jesus had finished this address, he left Galilee and circled back to Judea from across the Jordan River.
2
Vast crowds followed him, and he healed their sick.
3
Some Pharisees came to interview him and tried to trap him into saying something that would ruin him.
“Do you permit divorce?” they asked.
4
“Don’t you read the Scriptures?”
he replied.
“In them it is written that at the beginning God created man and woman,
5-6
and that a man should leave his father and mother, and be forever united to his wife. The two shall become one—no longer two, but one! And no man may divorce what God has joined together.”
7
“Then, why,” they asked, “did Moses say a man may divorce his wife by merely writing her a letter of dismissal?”
8
Jesus replied,
“Moses did that in recognition of your hard and evil hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.
9
And I tell you this, that anyone who divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery.”
*
10
Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If that is how it is, it is better not to marry!”
11
“Not everyone can accept this statement,”
Jesus said.
“Only those whom God helps.
12
Some are born without the ability to marry,
*
and some are disabled by men, and some refuse to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone who can, accept my statement.”
Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need!
2-3
He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength. He helps me do what honors him the most.
4
Even when walking through the dark valley of death I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me, guarding, guiding all the way.
*
5
You provide delicious food for me in the presence of my enemies. You have welcomed me as your guest;
*
blessings overflow!
6
Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with you forever in your home.
The wicked man is doomed by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him.
23
He shall die because he will not listen to the truth; he has let himself be led away into incredible folly.
January 29Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in again to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Jehovah says, “Let my people go and worship me.
2
If you refuse, I will send vast hordes of frogs across your land from one border to the other.
3-4
The Nile River will swarm with them, and they will come out into your houses, even into your bedrooms and right into your beds! Every home in Egypt will be filled with them. They will fill your ovens and your kneading bowls; you and your people will be immersed in them!”’”
5
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Instruct Aaron to point the rod toward all the rivers, streams, and pools of Egypt, so that there will be frogs in every corner of the land.”
6
Aaron did, and frogs covered the nation.
7
But the magicians did the same with their secret arts, and they, too, caused frogs to come up on the land.
8
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with God to take the frogs away, and I will let the people go and sacrifice to him.”
9
“Be so kind as to tell me when you want them to go,” Moses said, “and I will pray that the frogs will die at the time you specify, everywhere except in the river.”
10
“Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
“All right,” Moses replied, “it shall be as you have said; then you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God.
11
All the frogs will be destroyed, except those in the river.”
12
So Moses and Aaron went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and Moses pleaded with the Lord concerning the frogs he had sent.
13
And the Lord did as Moses promised—dead frogs covered the countryside and filled the nation’s homes.
14
They were piled into great heaps, making a terrible stench throughout the land.
15
But when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were gone, he hardened his heart and refused to let the people go, just as the Lord had predicted.
16
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to strike the dust with his rod, and it will become lice, throughout all the land of Egypt.”
17
So Moses and Aaron did as God commanded, and suddenly lice infested the entire nation, covering the Egyptians and their animals.
18
Then the magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed.
19
“This is the finger of God,” they exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
20
Next the Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning and meet Pharaoh as he comes out to the river to bathe, and say to him, ‘Jehovah says, “Let my people go and worship me.
21
If you refuse I will send swarms of flies throughout Egypt. Your homes will be filled with them and the ground will be covered with them.
22
But it will be very different in the land of Goshen where the Israelis live. No flies will be there; thus you will know that I am the Lord God of all the earth,
23
for I will make a distinction between your people and my people. All this will happen tomorrow.”’”
24
And Jehovah did as he had said, so that there were terrible swarms of flies in Pharaoh’s palace and in every home in Egypt.
25
Pharaoh hastily summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “All right, go ahead and sacrifice to your God, but do it here in the land. Don’t go out into the wilderness.”
26
But Moses replied, “That won’t do! Our sacrifices to God are hated by the Egyptians, and if we do this right here before their eyes, they will kill us.
27
We must take a three-day trip into the wilderness and sacrifice there to Jehovah our God, as he commanded us.”
28
“All right, go ahead,” Pharaoh replied, “but don’t go too far away. Now, hurry and plead with God for me.”
29
“Yes,” Moses said, “I will ask him to cause the swarms of flies to disappear. But I am warning you that you must never again lie to us by promising to let the people go and then changing your mind.”
30
So Moses went out from Pharaoh and asked the Lord to get rid of the flies.
31-32
And the Lord did as Moses asked and caused the swarms to disappear, so that not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart again and did not let the people go!
9:
1
“Go back to Pharaoh,” the Lord commanded Moses, “and tell him, ‘Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, demands that you let his people go to sacrifice to him.
2
If you refuse,
3
the power of God will send a deadly plague to destroy your cattle, horses, donkeys, camels, flocks, and herds.
4
But the plague will affect only the cattle of Egypt; none of the Israeli herds and flocks will even be touched!’”
5
The Lord announced that the plague would begin the very next day,
6
and it did. The next morning all the cattle of the Egyptians began dying, but not one of the Israeli herds was even sick.
7
Pharaoh sent to see whether it was true that none of the Israeli cattle were dead, yet when he found out that it was so, even then his mind remained unchanged and he refused to let the people go.
8
Then Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, “Take ashes from the kiln and have Moses toss them into the sky as Pharaoh watches.
9
They will spread like fine dust over all the land of Egypt and cause boils to break out upon people and animals alike, throughout the land.”
10
So they took ashes from the kiln and went to Pharaoh; as he watched, Moses tossed them toward the sky, and they became boils that broke out on men and animals alike throughout all Egypt.
11
And the magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils appeared upon them too.
12
But Jehovah hardened Pharaoh in his stubbornness, so that he refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted to Moses.
13
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Jehovah the God of the Hebrews says, “Let my people go to worship me.
14
This time I am going to send a plague that will really speak to you and to your servants and to all the Egyptian people, and prove to you there is no other God in all the earth.
15
I could have killed you all by now,
16
but I didn’t, for I wanted to demonstrate my power to you and to all the earth.
17
So you still think you are so great, do you, and defy my power, and refuse to let my people go?
18
Well, tomorrow about this time I will send a hailstorm across the nation such as there has never been since Egypt was founded!
19
Quick! Bring in your cattle from the fields, for every man and animal left out in the fields will die beneath the hail!”’”
20
Some of the Egyptians, terrified by this threat, brought their cattle and slaves in from the fields;
21
but those who had no regard for the word of Jehovah left them out in the storm.
22
Then Jehovah said to Moses, “Point your hand toward heaven and cause the hail to fall throughout all Egypt, upon the people, animals, and trees.”
23
So Moses held out his hand, and the Lord sent thunder and hail and lightning.
24
It was terrible beyond description. Never in all the history of Egypt had there been a storm like that.
25
All Egypt lay in ruins. Everything left in the fields, men and animals alike, was killed, and the trees were shattered and the crops were destroyed.
26
The only spot in all Egypt without hail that day was the land of Goshen where the people of Israel lived.
27
Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I finally see my fault,” he confessed. “Jehovah is right, and I and my people have been wrong all along.
28
Beg God to end this terrifying thunder and hail, and I will let you go at once.”
29
“All right,” Moses replied, “as soon as I have left the city I will spread out my hands to the Lord, and the thunder and hail will stop. This will prove to you that the earth is controlled by Jehovah.
30
But as for you and your officials, I know that even yet you will not obey him.”
31
All the flax and barley were knocked down and destroyed (for the barley was ripe, and the flax was in bloom),
32
but the wheat and the emmer were not destroyed, for they were not yet out of the ground.
33
So Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city and lifted his hands to heaven to the Lord, and the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain ceased pouring down.
34
When Pharaoh saw this, he and his officials sinned yet more by their stubborn refusal to do what they had promised;
35
so Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the Lord had predicted to Moses.
Little children were brought for Jesus to lay his hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded those who brought them. “Don’t bother him,” they said.
14
But Jesus said,
“Let the little children come to me, and don’t prevent them. For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
15
And he put his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.
16
Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Good master, what must I do to have eternal life?”
17
“When you call me good you are calling me God,”
Jesus replied,
“for God alone is truly good.
*
But to answer your question, you can get to heaven if you keep the commandments.”
18
“Which ones?” the man asked.
And Jesus replied,
“Don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie,
19
honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself!”
20
“I’ve always obeyed every one of them,” the youth replied. “What else must I do?”
21
Jesus told him,
“If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
22
But when the young man heard this, he went away sadly, for he was very rich.
23
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“It is almost impossible for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
24
I say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!”
25
This remark confounded the disciples. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
26
Jesus looked at them intently and said,
“Humanly speaking, no one. But with God, everything is possible.”
27
Then Peter said to him, “We left everything to follow you. What will we get out of it?”
28
And Jesus replied,
“When I, the Messiah,
*
shall sit upon my glorious throne in the Kingdom, you my disciples shall certainly sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29
And anyone who gives up his home, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife,
*
children, or property, to follow me, shall receive a hundred times as much in return, and shall have eternal life.
30
But many who are first now will be last then; and some who are last now will be first then.”
The earth belongs to God! Everything in all the world is his!
2
He is the one who pushed the oceans back to let dry land appear.
*
3
Who may climb the mountain of the Lord and enter where he lives? Who may stand before the Lord?
4
Only those with pure hands and hearts, who do not practice dishonesty and lying.
5
They will receive God’s own goodness
*
as their blessing from him, planted in their lives by God himself, their Savior.
6
These are the ones who are allowed to stand before the Lord and worship the God of Jacob.
7
Open up, O ancient gates, and let the King of Glory in.
8
Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, invincible in battle.
9
Yes, open wide the gates and let the King of Glory in.
10
Who is this King of Glory? The Commander of all of heaven’s armies!