Crossing the Red Sea

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to ^tturn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between ^uMigdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And ^vI will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will ^wget glory over Pharaoh and all his host, ^xand the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the ^ymind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7 and took ^zsix hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 And ^vthe Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while ^athe people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9 The ^bEgyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them ^cencamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel ^dcried out to the Lord. 11 They ^esaid to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what ^fwe said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, ^g“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For ^hthe Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 ⁱThe Lord will fight for you, and you have only ^jto be silent.”

15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 ^kLift up your staff, and ^kstretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And ^lI will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and ^mI will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians ⁿshall know that I am the Lord, ^mwhen I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

19 ^oThen the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night¹ without one coming near the other all night.

21 Then Moses ^kstretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by ^pa strong east wind all night and ^qmade the sea dry land, and the waters were ^rdivided. 22 And ^sthe people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being ^ta wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging² their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the ^uLord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^v“Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 ^wSo Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea ^xreturned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord ^ythrew³ the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The ^zwaters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, ^anot one of them remained. 29 But the ^bpeople of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

30 Thus the Lord ^csaved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 ^dIsrael saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they ^ebelieved in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Hide Me from the Wicked

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

The Lord Rejects Saul

1 And Samuel said to Saul, ^c“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel ^din opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and ^edevote to destruction¹ all that they have. Do not spare them, ^fbut kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to ^gthe Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. ^hFor you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 ⁱAnd Saul defeated the Amalekites from ^jHavilah as far as ^kShur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive ^land devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 ^mBut Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves² and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 ⁿ“I regret³ that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and ^ohas not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. 12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to ^pCarmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, ^q“Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, ^rfor the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

17 And Samuel said, ^s“Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? ^tWhy did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, ^u“I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 ^vBut the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 22 And Samuel said,

24 Saul said to Samuel, ^b“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and ^creturn with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. ^dFor you have rejected the word of the Lord, ^eand the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 ^fAs Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, ^g“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel ^hwill not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet ⁱhonor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, ^jand return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.⁴ Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 And Samuel said, ^k“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord ^lin Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went ^mto Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in ⁿGibeah of Saul. 35 ^oAnd Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, ^pbut Samuel grieved over Saul. ^qAnd the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

1 ^hOne day, ⁱas Jesus¹ was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, ^jthe chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us ^kby what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John ^lfrom heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^m‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was ⁿa prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

9 ^oAnd he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted ^pa vineyard and ^qlet it out to tenants and ^rwent into another country for a long while. 10 When the time came, he sent a servant² to the tenants, so that ^qthey would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. ^sBut the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 ^tAnd ^she sent another servant. But they also beat and ^utreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 ^sAnd he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my ^vbeloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ^w‘This is the heir. ^xLet us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And they ^ythrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 ^zHe will ^acome and destroy those tenants and ^bgive the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But he ^clooked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

18 ^eEveryone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls ^fon anyone, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

19 ^hThe scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20 ⁱSo they ^jwatched him and sent spies, who ^kpretended to be sincere, that they might ^lcatch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of ^mthe governor. 21 So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and ^oshow no partiality,⁴ but truly teach ^pthe way of God. 22 Is it lawful for us to give ^qtribute to ^rCaesar, or not?” 23 But he perceived their ^scraftiness, and said to them, 24 “Show me ^ta denarius.⁵ Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then ^urender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 And they were not able in the presence of the people ^vto catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

27 There came to him ^wsome Sadducees, ^xthose who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us ^ythat if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man⁶ must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

34 And Jesus said to them, ^z“The sons of this age ^amarry and ^aare given in marriage, 35 but those who are ^bconsidered worthy to attain to ^cthat age and to the resurrection from the dead ^dneither marry ^dnor are given in marriage, 36 for ^ethey cannot die anymore, because they are ^fequal to angels and ^gare ^hsons of God, being ⁱsons⁷ of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, ^jeven Moses showed, in ^kthe passage about the bush, where he calls ^lthe Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all ^mlive to him.” 39 Then some of the scribes ⁿanswered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For ^othey no longer dared to ask him any question.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 ^pBut he said to them, “How can they say that ^qthe Christ is ^qDavid’s son? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

44 David thus calls him Lord, so ^thow is he his son?”

Beware of the Scribes

45 ^uAnd in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and ^vthe places of honor at feasts, 47 ^wwho devour widows’ houses and ^xfor a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”