Exodus 1 - 2, Luke 18, Psalm 50 — Legacy Standard Bible

Israel Multiplies in Egypt

1Now these are the ^anames of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one ¹with his household: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵And all the ¹persons who came from the loins of Jacob were ^aseventy ²in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶^aThen Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ⁷But the sons of Israel ^awere fruitful and ¹increased and multiplied and became exceedingly ²mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

⁸And a new ^aking arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹^aAnd he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are ¹more and mightier than we. ¹⁰“Come, let us ^adeal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it be ¹in the event of war, that they also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and ^bgo up from the land.” ¹¹So they appointed ^ataskmasters over them to afflict them with ¹^,^bhard labors. And they built for Pharaoh ^cstorage cities, Pithom and ^dRaamses. ¹²But the more they afflicted them, ^athe more they multiplied and the more they ¹spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. ¹³So the Egyptians brutally compelled the sons of Israel ^ato slave labor; ¹⁴and they made ^atheir lives bitter with ¹hard slave labor in mortar and bricks and in all kinds of slave labor in the field, all their slave labor which they brutally ²compelled them to do.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom ¹was named Shiphrah and the other ²was named Puah; ¹⁶and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, ^aif it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷But the midwives ¹^,^afeared God and ^bdid not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but let the boys live. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” ¹⁹Then the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can come to them.” ²⁰So ^aGod was good to the midwives, and ^bthe people multiplied and became very ¹mighty. ²¹Now it happened that because the midwives ¹^,^afeared God, He ^bmade ²households for them. ²²And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “^aEvery son who is born ¹you are to cast into ^bthe Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

The Birth of Moses

2And a man from ^athe house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as a wife. ²And the woman conceived and bore a son; and she saw ¹that he was ²^,^abeautiful, so she hid him for three months. ³But she could not hide him any longer. So she took for him ¹an ^aark of papyrus reeds and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and put it among the ^breeds by the bank of the Nile. ⁴^aAnd his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.

⁵And the daughter of Pharaoh came down ^ato bathe at the Nile, with her young women walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the ¹ark among the reeds and sent her maidservant, and she took it to her. ⁶Then she opened it and ¹saw the child. And behold, the ²boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” ⁷Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call ¹a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?” ⁸And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the ¹girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and ^ahe became her son. And she named him ¹Moses and said, “Because I ²drew him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹Now it happened in those days, ^athat Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and looked on their ¹^,^bhard labors. And ^che saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. ¹²So he turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around. So he ^astruck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³Then he went out ^athe next day, and behold, two Hebrews were struggling with each other; and he said to the ¹wicked one, “Why are you striking your companion?” ¹⁴But he said, “^aWho made you a ¹ruler or a judge over us? Are you ²intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.” ¹⁵And Pharaoh heard of this matter, so he sought to kill Moses. But ^aMoses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he ¹sat down ^bby a well. ¹⁶Now ^athe priest of Midian had seven daughters; and ^bthey came and drew water and filled the troughs to give water to their father’s flock to drink. ¹⁷Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but ^aMoses rose up and saved them and gave water to their flock to drink. ¹⁸Then they came to ^aReuel their father, and he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?” ¹⁹So they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he actually even drew the water for us and gave water to the flock to drink.” ²⁰And he said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Call him so that he may eat bread.” ²¹^aAnd Moses was willing to settle down with the man, and he gave his daughter ^bZipporah to Moses. ²²Then she gave birth to ^aa son, and he named him ¹Gershom, for he said, “I have been ^ba ²sojourner in a foreign land.”

God Hears Israel’s Groaning

²³Now it happened in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel ^asighed because of the slavery, and they cried out; and ^btheir cry for help because of their slavery rose up to God. ²⁴So ^aGod heard their groaning; and God remembered ^bHis covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵^aAnd God saw the sons of Israel, and God knew them.

Parables on Prayer

18Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ^aought to pray and not to ^blose heart, ²saying, “In a certain city there was a certain judge who did not fear God and did not ^arespect man. ³“Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice from my opponent.’ ⁴“And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor ^arespect man, ⁵yet ^abecause this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice, lest by continually coming she ¹^,^bwears me out.’” ⁶And ^athe Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge *said. ⁷“Now, will God not ^abring about justice for His ^belect who cry to Him day and night, ¹and will He ^cdelay long over them? ⁸“I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, ^awill He find that faith on the earth?”

⁹And He also told this parable to some people who ^atrusted in themselves that they were righteous, and ^bviewed others with contempt: ¹⁰“Two men ^awent up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹“The Pharisee ^astood and was praying these things to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹²‘I ^afast twice a week; I ^bpay tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³“But the tax collector, ^astanding some distance away, ^bwas even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but ^cwas ¹beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be ²merciful to me, the sinner!’ ¹⁴“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, ^afor everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵^aAnd they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they were rebuking them. ¹⁶But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷“Truly I say to you, ^awhoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

The Rich Young Ruler

¹⁸^aAnd a ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ²⁰“You know the commandments, ‘^aDo not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” ²¹And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” ²²And when Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack: ^asell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have ^btreasure in heaven. And come, follow Me.” ²³But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. ²⁴And Jesus looked at him and said, “^aHow hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵“For ^ait is easier for a camel to ¹go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶And those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷But He said, “^aThe things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

²⁸And Peter said, “Behold, ^awe have left all that is our own and followed You.” ²⁹And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, ^athere is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰who will not receive many times more at this time and in ^athe age to come, eternal life.”

³¹^aBut when He took the twelve aside, He said to them, “Behold, ^bwe are going up to Jerusalem, and ^call things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be ¹completed. ³²“^aFor He will be ¹delivered over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, ³³and after they have flogged Him, they will kill Him, and the third day He will rise again.” ³⁴But ^athe disciples understood none of these things, and this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

Bartimaeus Regains His Sight

³⁵^aNow it happened that as ¹^,^bJesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. ³⁶Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. ³⁷They reported to him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” ³⁸And he called out, saying, “Jesus, ^aSon of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹And those who went ahead were rebuking him so that he would be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “^aSon of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him, and when he came near, He questioned him, ⁴¹“What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” ⁴²And Jesus said to him, “¹Receive your sight; ^ayour faith has ²saved you.” ⁴³Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, ^aglorifying God. And when ^ball the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

God Himself Is Judge

A Psalm of ¹Asaph.

^aThe Mighty One, God, Yahweh, has spoken,And called the earth ^bfrom the rising of the sun to its setting.²Out of Zion, ^athe perfection of beauty,God ^bhas shone forth.³May our God ^acome and not be silent;^bFire devours before Him,And ^ca storm whirls around Him.⁴He ^acalls the heavens above,And the earth, to render justice to His people:⁵“Gather My ^aholy ones to Me,Those who have cut a ^bcovenant with Me by ^csacrifice.”⁶And the ^aheavens declare His righteousness,For ^bGod Himself is judge. ¹ Selah.⁷“^aHear, O My people, and I will speak;O Israel, I will testify ¹against you;I am God, ^byour God.⁸“I do ^anot reprove you for your sacrifices,And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.⁹“I shall take no ^ayoung bull out of your houseNor male goats out of your folds.¹⁰“For ^aevery beast of the forest is Mine,The cattle on a thousand hills.¹¹“I know every ^abird of the mountains,And everything that moves in the field is ¹Mine.¹²“If I were hungry I would not tell you,For the ^aworld is Mine, as well as its fullness.¹³“Shall I eat the flesh of ¹^,^abullsOr drink the blood of male goats?¹⁴“Offer to God ^aa sacrifice of thanksgivingAnd ^bpay your vows to the Most High;¹⁵^aCall upon Me in the day of distress;I shall ^brescue you, and you will ^cglorify Me.”¹⁶But to the wicked God says,“What right have you to recount My statutesAnd to take ^aMy covenant in your mouth?¹⁷“For you ^ahate discipline,And you ^bcast My words behind you.¹⁸“When you see a thief, you ¹^,^aare pleased with him,And ²you ^bassociate with adulterers.¹⁹“You ¹^,^alet your mouth loose in evilAnd you harness your ^btongue for deceit.²⁰“You sit and ^aspeak against your brother;You slander your own mother’s son.²¹“These things you have done and ^aI kept silent;You thought that I was just like you;I will ^breprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.²²“Now consider this, you who ^aforget God,Lest I ^btear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.²³“He who ^aoffers a sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies Me;And he who ¹^,^borders his way,I shall ^cshow the salvation of God.”