Exodus 5 - 6, Luke 20, Psalms 53 - 54

Pharaoh Will Not Let the People Go

5And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “^aThus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘^bLet My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” ²But Pharaoh said, “^aWho is Yahweh that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and also, ^bI will not let Israel go.” ³Then they said, “^aThe God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest He confront us with pestilence or with the sword.” ⁴But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you ¹draw the people away from their ²work? Get back to your ³^,^ahard labors!” ⁵And Pharaoh said, “Look, ^athe people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their hard labors!” ⁶So on that day Pharaoh commanded ^athe taskmasters over the people and their ^bforemen, saying, ⁷“You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸“But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall set upon them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are ^alazy, therefore they are crying out, ‘¹Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹“Let their slavery be hard on the men, and let them work at it so that they will have no regard for false words.”

¹⁰So ^athe taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. ¹¹‘You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but no amount of your slave labor will be reduced.’” ¹²So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³And the taskmasters were pressing them, saying, “Complete your ¹work quota, ²the daily amount, just as when there was straw.” ¹⁴Moreover, ^athe foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, ^bwere beaten ¹and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”

¹⁵Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your slaves? ¹⁶“There is no straw given to your slaves, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your slaves are being beaten; but it is the ¹sin of your own people.” ¹⁷But he said, “You are ^alazy—lazy! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ ¹⁸“So now, go and labor; but straw will not be given to you, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹Then the foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble ¹because they were told, “You must not reduce ²your daily amount of bricks.” ²⁰When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they confronted Moses and Aaron, ¹standing there to meet them. ²¹^aAnd they said to them, “^bMay Yahweh look upon you and judge, for you have ^cmade ¹us a foul smell in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

²²Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “^aO Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? ²³“Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, ^aand You have not delivered Your people at all.”

Yahweh Remembers His Covenant

6Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for ^aby a strong hand he will let them go, and by a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

²God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am ^aYahweh; ³and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as ¹^,^aGod Almighty, but by ^bMy name, Yahweh, I was not known to them. ⁴“And I also established ^aMy covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the ¹land in which they sojourned. ⁵“Furthermore I have ^aheard the groaning of the sons of Israel because the Egyptians are holding them in slavery, and I have remembered My covenant. ⁶“Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘^aI am Yahweh, and ^bI will bring you out from under the hard labors of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their slavery. I will also ^credeem you with ^dan outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷‘Then I will take you ¹^,^afor My people, and ^bI will be ²your God; and ^cyou shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the hard labors of the Egyptians. ⁸‘And I will bring you to the land which ^aI ¹swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and ^bI will give it to you for a possession; ^cI am Yahweh.’” ⁹So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on ^aaccount of their weakness of spirit and ¹hard slavery.

¹⁰Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹“^aCome, ¹tell Pharaoh king of Egypt ²to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” ¹²But Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; ^ahow then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of ^buncircumcised lips?” ¹³Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command for the sons of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel’s Households

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers’ households. ^aThe sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

¹⁵The ^asons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶These are the names of ^athe sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the years of Levi’s life were 137 years. ¹⁷^aThe sons of Gershon: ¹Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ¹⁸^aThe sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the years of Kohath’s life were 133 years. ¹⁹^aThe sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰^aAnd Amram took his father’s sister Jochebed as a wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the years of Amram’s life were 137 years. ²¹^aThe sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri. ²²^aThe sons of Uzziel: Mishael and ¹Elzaphan and Sithri. ²³And Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of ^aAmminadab, the sister of ^bNahshon, as a wife, and she bore him ^cNadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴The ^asons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and ¹Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵And Aaron’s son ^aEleazar took one of the daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore him ^bPhinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families. ²⁶It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom Yahweh said, “^aBring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ^bhosts.” ²⁷They were the ones ^awho spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

Aaron Will Speak for Moses

²⁸Now it happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “^aI am Yahweh; ^bspeak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am speaking to you.” ³⁰But Moses said before Yahweh, “Behold, I am of ^auncircumcised lips; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

20^aAnd it happened that on one of the days while ^bHe was teaching the people in the temple and ^cproclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^dcame up to Him, ²and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a ¹question, and you tell Me: ⁴“Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶“But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a ^aprophet.” ⁷So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸And Jesus said to them, “Neither ¹will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-Growers

⁹^aAnd He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to ¹vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰“And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vine-growers sent him away empty-handed having beaten him. ¹¹“And he proceeded to send another slave; and when they beat him also and treated him shamefully, they sent him away empty-handed. ¹²“And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out. ¹³“Now the ¹owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^arespect him.’ ¹⁴“But when the vine-growers saw him, they were reasoning with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵“So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ¹owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶“He will come and ^adestroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “^bMay it never be!” ¹⁷But when ¹Jesus looked at them, He said, “What then is this that is written: ‘^aThe stone which the builders rejected,This has become ^bthe chief corner stone’?

¹⁸“^aEveryone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹And the scribes and the chief priests ^atried to lay hands on Him that very hour, but they feared the people. For they understood that He spoke this parable against them. ²⁰^aSo they watched Him, and sent spies who ¹pretended to be righteous, so ^bthat they might ²catch Him in some statement, in order to deliver Him to the rule and the authority of ^cthe governor. ²¹And they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ¹are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. ²²“Is it ¹lawful for us ^ato pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ²³But He perceived their craftiness and said to them, ²⁴“Show Me a ¹denarius. Whose ²likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵And He said to them, “Then ^arender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶And they were unable to ¹^,^acatch Him in a word in the presence of the people; and marveling at His answer, they became silent.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

²⁷^aNow some of the ^bSadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him, ²⁸and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^aif a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should ¹marry the wife and raise up ²seed for his brother. ²⁹“Now there were seven brothers; and the first married a wife and died childless, ³⁰and the second ³¹and the third ¹married her; and in the same way, ²all seven ³died, leaving no children. ³²“Finally the woman died also. ³³“Therefore, this woman—in the resurrection—whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as a wife.”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^athis age marry and are given in marriage, ³⁵but those who are considered worthy to attain to ^athat age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶“For they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels and are ^asons of God, being sons of the resurrection. ³⁷“But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in ^athe passage about the burning bush, where he calls the ¹Lord ^bthe God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ³⁸“^aNow He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for ^ball live to Him.” ³⁹And some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰For ^athey did not dare to question Him any longer about anything.

⁴¹^aThen He said to them, “How is it that they say the ¹Christ is ^bDavid’s son? ⁴²“For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘^aThe ¹Lord said to my Lord,“Sit at My right hand,

⁴³^aUntil I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.”’

⁴⁴“Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ so how is He his son?”

⁴⁵^aAnd while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ⁴⁶“Beware of the scribes, ^awho want to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁷who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

There Is No One Who Does Good

For the choir director. According to ¹Mahalath. A ²Maskil of David.

^aThe wicked fool says in his heart, “There is no God,”They act corruptly, and commit abominable injustice;^bThere is no one who does good.²God looks down from heaven upon the sons of menTo see if there is ^aanyone who has insight,Anyone who ^bseeks after God.³^aEvery one of them has turned back; together they have become ¹worthless;There is no one who does good, not even one.⁴Do the workers of iniquity ^anot know,Who eat up my people as they eat breadAnd do not call upon God?⁵There they were in great dread ^awhere no dread had been;For God ^bscattered the bones of ¹him who encamped against you;You ^cput them to shame, because ^dGod had rejected them.⁶Oh, that ^athe salvation of Israel ¹would come out of Zion!When God ²restores His captive people,³May Jacob rejoice, may Israel be glad.

God Is My Helper

For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A ¹Maskil of David. ²When the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”

O God, save me by ^aYour name,And render justice to me by ^bYour might.²^aO God, hear my prayer;^bGive ear to the words of my mouth.³For strangers have ^arisen against meAnd ^bruthless men have ^csought my ¹life;They have ^dnot set God before them. ² Selah.⁴Behold, ^aGod is my helper;The Lord is among those who ^bsustain my soul.⁵He will ^areturn the evil to my foes;^bDestroy them ^cin Your truth.⁶^aWith a freewill offering I will sacrifice to You;I will give ^bthanks to Your name, O Yahweh, for it is good.⁷For ¹He has ^adelivered me from all ²distress,And my eye has ^blooked in triumph upon my enemies.