Va'eraAnd I appeared

1Reading 1 Exodus 6:2–13Chapter page with footnotes →

^6:2And God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD; ³and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty; but by My name the LORD I was not known to them. ⁴And also I established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, in which they sojourned. ⁵And also I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, whom the Egyptians make to serve, and I have remembered My covenant.

⁶Therefore say to the sons of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their service, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ⁷And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you for God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of Egypt. ⁸And I will bring you to the land which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD."

⁹And Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel; but they did not listen to Moses for shortness of spirit and for hard service.

¹⁰And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ¹¹"Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land."

¹²And Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, "Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; and how shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?"

¹³And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and commanded them concerning the sons of Israel and concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

2Reading 2 Exodus 6:14–28Chapter page with footnotes →

Genealogies of Moses and Aaron

^6:14These are the heads of their fathers' houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben.

¹⁵And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar, and Shaul the son of the Canaanite woman. These are the families of Simeon.

¹⁶And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were a hundred and thirty-seven years.

¹⁷The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families.

¹⁸And the sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred and thirty-three years.

¹⁹And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.

²⁰And Amram took Jochebed his aunt to himself for a wife, and she bore to him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years.

²¹And the sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri.

²²And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri.

²³And Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, to himself for a wife, and she bore to him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴And the sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵And Eleazar, Aaron's son, took to himself one of the daughters of Putiel for a wife, and she bore to him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶This is that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, "Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts." ²⁷These are they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt; this is that Moses and Aaron.

²⁸And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

3Reading 3 Exodus 6:29–7:7Chapter page with footnotes →

^6:29that the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "I am the LORD; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you."

³⁰And Moses said before the LORD, "Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?"

God Commands Moses and Aaron

^7:1And the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. ²You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he send out the sons of Israel from his land.

³And I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴And Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will set My hand against Egypt, and I will bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt with great judgments. ⁵And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from among them."

⁶And Moses and Aaron did so; as the LORD commanded them, so they did. ⁷And Moses was a son of eighty years, and Aaron a son of eighty-three years, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

4Reading 4 Exodus 7:8–8:6Chapter page with footnotes →

Aaron’s Staff

^7:8And the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ⁹"When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Give for yourselves a wonder,' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh,' and it shall become a great sea-creature."

¹⁰And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they did so, as the LORD had commanded; and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a great sea-creature.

¹¹And Pharaoh also called for the wise men and for the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did so with their secret arts. ¹²And they cast down each man his rod, and they became great sea-creatures; but the rod of Aaron swallowed up their rods.

¹³And the heart of Pharaoh was strong, and he did not listen to them; as the LORD had spoken.

The First Plague: Blood

¹⁴And the LORD said to Moses, "The heart of Pharaoh is heavy; he refuses to send the people out. ¹⁵Go to Pharaoh in the morning—behold, he goes out to the water—and you shall station yourself to meet him by the lip of the river; and the rod which was turned into a serpent you shall take in your hand. ¹⁶And you shall say to him, 'the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying: Send out My people, that they may serve Me in the wilderness; and behold, you have not listened until now.' ¹⁷Thus says the LORD: By this you shall know that I am the LORD—behold, I am striking with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters that are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. ¹⁸And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be weary to drink water from the river."

¹⁹And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their gathering of waters, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood in all the land of Egypt, both in the wood and in the stones.'"

²⁰And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹And the fish that was in the river died, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river; and the blood was in all the land of Egypt.

²²And the magicians of Egypt did so with their secret arts; and the heart of Pharaoh was strong, and he did not listen to them; as the LORD had spoken. ²³And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even to this. ²⁴And all the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink, for they could not drink from the waters of the river.

²⁵And seven days were fulfilled after the LORD struck the river.

The Second Plague: Frogs

²⁶And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, and you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: Send out My people, that they may serve Me. ²⁷And if you refuse to send them out, behold, I am striking all your border with frogs. ²⁸And the river shall swarm with frogs, and they shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and upon your bed, and into the house of your servants, and upon your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. ²⁹And upon you, and upon your people, and upon all your servants the frogs shall go up.'"

^8:1And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and bring up the frogs upon the land of Egypt.'"

²And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frog came up and covered the land of Egypt.

³And the magicians did so with their secret arts, and brought up the frogs upon the land of Egypt.

⁴And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, "Entreat the LORD, that He remove the frogs from me and from my people, and I will send out the people, that they may sacrifice to the LORD."

⁵And Moses said to Pharaoh, "Glorify yourself over me: for when shall I entreat for you, and for your servants, and for your people, to cut off the frogs from you and from your houses, that they remain only in the river?"

⁶And he said, "For tomorrow." And he said, "According to your word, that you may know that there is none like the LORD our God.

5Reading 5 Exodus 8:7–18Chapter page with footnotes →

^8:7And the frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people; only in the river they shall remain."

⁸And Moses and Aaron went out from with Pharaoh; and Moses cried out to the LORD concerning the matter of the frogs which He had set upon Pharaoh. ⁹And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died from the houses, from the courts, and from the fields. ¹⁰And they gathered them together heaps upon heaps, and the land stank.

¹¹And Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he made his heart heavy, and did not listen to them; as the LORD had spoken.

The Third Plague: Gnats

¹²And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.'"

¹³And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats upon man and upon beast; all the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.

¹⁴And the magicians did so with their secret arts to bring out the gnats, but they could not; and the gnats were upon man and upon beast.

¹⁵And the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." And the heart of Pharaoh was strong, and he did not listen to them; as the LORD had spoken.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

¹⁶And the LORD said to Moses, "Rise early in the morning and station yourself before Pharaoh—behold, he goes out to the water—and you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: Send out My people, that they may serve Me. ¹⁷For if you do not send out My people, behold, I am sending against you, and against your servants, and against your people, and into your houses, the swarm; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of the swarm, and also the ground on which they are.

¹⁸And I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, on which My people stand, that no swarm shall be there; to the end that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

6Reading 6 Exodus 8:19–9:16Chapter page with footnotes →

^8:19And I will put a redemption between My people and your people; tomorrow this sign shall be.'"

²⁰And the LORD did so, and a heavy swarm came into the house of Pharaoh and the house of his servants; and in all the land of Egypt the land was being ruined because of the swarm.

²¹And Pharaoh called to Moses and to Aaron, and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God in the land."

²²And Moses said, "It is not right to do so, for the abomination of the Egyptians we would sacrifice to the LORD our God; behold, if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? ²³A way of three days we will go into the wilderness, and we will sacrifice to the LORD our God, as He says to us."

²⁴And Pharaoh said, "I will send you out, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away; entreat for me."

²⁵And Moses said, "Behold, I am going out from you, and I will entreat the LORD, and the swarm shall depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only let not Pharaoh again deal deceitfully in not sending out the people to sacrifice to the LORD."

²⁶And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD. ²⁷And the LORD did according to the word of Moses, and removed the swarm from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. ²⁸And Pharaoh made his heart heavy also at this time, and did not send out the people.

The Fifth Plague: Livestock

^9:1And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, and speak to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews: Send out My people, that they may serve Me. ²For if you refuse to send them out, and you still hold them fast, ³behold, the hand of the LORD is upon your livestock that is in the field, upon the horses, upon the donkeys, upon the camels, upon the herd, and upon the flock—a very heavy pestilence. ⁴And the LORD shall set apart between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel."

⁵And the LORD set an appointed time (mo-ed), saying, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land." ⁶And the LORD did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel not one died. ⁷And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not so much as one of the livestock of Israel had died; and the heart of Pharaoh was heavy, and he did not send out the people.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸And the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron, "Take to you handfuls of soot of the furnace, and let Moses throw it heavenward before the eyes of Pharaoh. ⁹And it shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall become upon man and upon beast a boil breaking out in blisters in all the land of Egypt."

¹⁰And they took the soot of the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw it heavenward, and it became a boil breaking out in blisters upon man and upon beast. ¹¹And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boil, for the boil was upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians.

¹²And the LORD made strong the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them; as the LORD had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

¹³And the LORD said to Moses, "Rise early in the morning and station yourself before Pharaoh, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews: Send out My people, that they may serve Me. ¹⁴For at this time I am sending all My plagues against your heart, and against your servants, and against your people, so that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.

¹⁵For now I might have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with the pestilence, and you would have been effaced from the earth. ¹⁶But for this cause I have made you stand, in order to show you My power, and so that My name may be recounted in all the earth.

7Reading 7 Exodus 9:17–35Chapter page with footnotes →

^9:17Still you exalt yourself against My people, in not sending them out.

¹⁸Behold, about this time tomorrow I am causing it to rain a very heavy hail, such as has not been in Egypt from the day it was founded even until now. ¹⁹And now, send, bring to safety your livestock and all that you have in the field; every man and beast that is found in the field and is not gathered home—the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.'"

²⁰He who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses; ²¹and he who did not set his heart to the word of the LORD left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²²And the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the heavens, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt."

²³And Moses stretched out his rod over the heavens, and the LORD gave thunders and hail, and fire went down to the earth; and the LORD caused it to rain hail upon the land of Egypt. ²⁴And there was hail, and fire flashing in the midst of the hail, very heavy, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

²⁵And the hail struck in all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, from man even to beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. ²⁶Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "I have sinned this time; the LORD is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones. ²⁸Entreat the LORD—and let it be enough—from there being thunders of God and hail; and I will send you out, and you shall not continue to stay."

²⁹And Moses said to him, "As I go out of the city, I will spread out my palms to the LORD; the thunders shall cease, and the hail shall be no more, that you may know that the earth is the LORD's. ³⁰But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear before the LORD God."

³¹And the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. ³²But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late.

³³And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his palms to the LORD; and the thunders and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured out on the earth.

³⁴And Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, and he added to sin, and made his heart heavy, he and his servants. ³⁵And the heart of Pharaoh was strong, and he did not send out the sons of Israel; as the LORD had spoken by the hand of Moses.

PEzekiel 28:25–29:21Chapter page with footnotes →

The Restoration of Israel

^28:25Thus says the Lord GOD: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and I am sanctified in them in the eyes of the nations, then they shall dwell upon their ground which I gave to My servant Jacob. ²⁶And they shall dwell upon it securely, and build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all those who scorn them round about; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

A Prophecy against Pharaoh

^29:1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ²Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt. ³Speak, and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great sea-creature that lies in the midst of his rivers, who says, My Nile is my own, and I have made it for myself.

⁴And I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your rivers cling to your scales; and I will bring you up from the midst of your rivers, and all the fish of your rivers shall cling to your scales.

⁵And I will cast you into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers; upon the face of the field you shall fall; you shall not be gathered nor collected; to the living thing of the earth and to the bird of the heavens I have given you for food.

⁶And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

⁷When they grasp you by the hand, you splinter, and tear open for them every shoulder; and when they lean upon you, you break, and make all their loins to stand.

The Desolation of Egypt

⁸Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am bringing upon you a sword, and I will cut off from you man and beast. ⁹And the land of Egypt shall become a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD. Because he said, The Nile is mine, and I have made it, ¹⁰therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt into ruins, a waste, a desolation, from Migdol to Syene, and to the border of Cush. ¹¹No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it; neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

¹²And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolate lands, and her cities, in the midst of cities laid waste, shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the lands.

¹³For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered; ¹⁴and I will turn the captivity of Egypt, and bring them back to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin; and there they shall be a lowly kingdom.

¹⁵It shall be the lowliest of the kingdoms, and shall not lift itself up any more above the nations; and I will diminish them, that they shall not rule over the nations. ¹⁶And it shall be no more for the house of Israel a confidence, bringing iniquity to remembrance when they turned after them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

Egypt the Reward of Nebuchadnezzar

¹⁷And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ¹⁸Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made his army serve a great service against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled; yet wages there were not for him, nor for his army, from Tyre, for the service that he served against it.

¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am giving to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon the land of Egypt; and he shall carry off her abundance, and seize her spoil, and plunder her plunder; and it shall be wages for his army. ²⁰For his labor which he served against her, I have given him the land of Egypt; because they wrought for Me, the declaration of the Lord GOD.

²¹In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and to you I will give an opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

ARomans 9:14–24Chapter page with footnotes →

^9:14What then shall we say? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be! ¹⁵For He says to Moses: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

¹⁶So then it is not of the one who wills nor of the one who runs, but of God who shows mercy. ¹⁷For the scripture says to Pharaoh: "For this very purpose I raised you up — that I might display My power in you and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth." ¹⁸So then, He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills.

¹⁹You will say to me then: "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" ²⁰On the contrary — O person, who are you to talk back to God? Will the thing formed say to the one who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?" ²¹Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

²²But if God, willing to display His wrath and to make His might known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³and in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy which He prepared beforehand for glory — ²⁴even us whom He called, not only from the Jews but also from the nations —