Through the Bible – Day 23

₁The LORD sent Moses with this message for the king of Egypt:

₆It happened the next day—all the animals belonging to the Egyptians died, but the Israelites did not lose even one. ₇When the king found out, he was still too stubborn to let the people go.

₈The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:

₁₀So they took a few handfuls of ashes and went to the king. Moses threw them into the air, and sores immediately broke out on the Egyptians and their animals. ₁₁The magicians were suffering so much from the sores, that they could not even come to Moses. ₁₂Everything happened just as the LORD had told Moses—he made the king too stubborn to listen to Moses and Aaron.

₁₃The LORD told Moses to get up early the next morning and say to the king:

₂₀Some of the king's officials were frightened by what the LORD had said, and they hurried off to make sure their slaves and animals were safe. ₂₁But others paid no attention to his threats and left their slaves and animals out in the open.

₂₂Then the LORD told Moses, “Stretch your arm towards the sky, so that hailstones will fall on people, animals, and crops in the land of Egypt.” _23-24Moses pointed his walking stick towards the sky, and hailstones started falling everywhere. Thunder roared, and lightning flashed back and forth, striking the ground. This was the worst storm in the history of Egypt. ₂₅People, animals, and crops were pounded by the hailstones, and bark was stripped from trees. ₂₆Only Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was safe from the storm.

₂₇The king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Now I have really sinned! My people and I are guilty, and the LORD is right. ₂₈We can't stand any more of this thunder and hail. Please ask the LORD to make it stop. Your people can go—you don't have to stay in Egypt any longer.”

₂₉Moses answered, “As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my arms in prayer. When the thunder and hail stop, you will know that the earth belongs to the LORD. ₃₀But I am certain that neither you nor your officials really fear the LORD God.”

₃₁Meanwhile, the flax and barley crops had been destroyed by the storm because they were ready to ripen. ₃₂But the wheat crops ripen later, and they were not damaged.

₃₃After Moses left the royal palace and the city, he lifted his arms in prayer to the LORD, and the thunder, hail, and drenching rain stopped. ₃₄When the king realized that the storm was over, he disobeyed once more. He and his officials were so stubborn ₃₅that he refused to let the Israelites go. This was exactly what the LORD had said would happen.

₁The LORD said to Moses:

₃Moses and Aaron went to the king and told him that the LORD God of the Hebrews had said:

After Moses left the palace, ₇the king's officials asked, “Your Majesty, how much longer is this man going to be a troublemaker? Why don't you let the people leave, so they can worship the LORD their God? Don't you know that Egypt is a disaster?”

₈The king had Moses and Aaron brought back, and he said, “All right, you may go and worship the LORD your God. But first tell me who will be going.”

₉“Everyone, young and old,” Moses answered. “We will even take our sheep, goats, and cattle, because we want to hold a celebration in honour of the LORD.”

₁₀The king replied, “The LORD had better watch over you on the day I let you leave with your families! You're up to no good. ₁₁Do you want to worship the LORD? All right, take only the men and go.” Then Moses and Aaron were chased out of the palace.

₁₂The LORD told Moses, “Stretch your arm towards Egypt. Swarms of locusts will come and eat everything left by the hail.”

₁₃Moses held out his walking stick, and the LORD sent an east wind that blew across Egypt the rest of the day and all that night. By morning, locusts ₁₄were swarming everywhere. Never before had there been so many locusts in Egypt, and never again will there be so many. ₁₅The ground was black with locusts, and they ate everything left on the trees and in the fields. Nothing green remained in Egypt—not a tree or a plant.

₁₆At once the king sent for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. ₁₇Forgive me one more time and ask the LORD to stop these insects from killing every living plant.”

₁₈Moses left the palace and prayed. ₁₉Then the LORD sent a strong west wind that swept the locusts into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt, ₂₀but the LORD made the king so stubborn that he still refused to let the Israelites go.

₂₁The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch your arm towards the sky, and everything will be covered with darkness thick enough to touch.” ₂₂Moses stretched his arm towards the sky, and Egypt was covered with darkness for three days. ₂₃During that time, the Egyptians could not see each other or leave their homes, but there was light where the Israelites lived.

₂₄The king sent for Moses and told him, “Go and worship the LORD! And take your families with you. Just leave your sheep, goats, and cattle.”

₂₅“No!” Moses replied. “You must let us offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, ₂₆and we won't know which animals we will need until we get there. That's why we can't leave even one of them here.”

₂₇This time the LORD made the king so stubborn ₂₈that he said to Moses, “Get out and stay out! If you ever come back, you're dead!”

₂₉“Have it your way,” Moses answered. “You won't see me again.”

₁About this time Herod the ruler heard the news about Jesus ₂and told his officials, “This is John the Baptist! He has come back from death, and that's why he has the power to perform these miracles.”

_3-4Herod had earlier arrested John and had him chained and put in prison. He did this because John had told him, “It isn't right for you to take Herodias, the wife of your brother Philip.” ₅Herod wanted to kill John. But the people thought John was a prophet, and Herod was afraid of what they might do.

₆When Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests. She pleased Herod ₇so much that he swore to give her whatever she wanted. ₈But the girl's mother told her to say, “Here on a dish I want the head of John the Baptist!”

₉The king was sorry for what he had said. But he did not want to break the promise he had made in front of his guests. So he ordered a guard ₁₀to go to the prison and cut off John's head. ₁₁It was taken on a dish to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. ₁₂John's followers took his body and buried it. Then they told Jesus what had happened.

₁₃After Jesus heard about John, he crossed Lake Galilee to go to some place where he could be alone. But the crowds found out and followed him on foot from the towns. ₁₄When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw the large crowd. He felt sorry for them and healed everyone who was sick.

₁₅That evening the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This place is like a desert, and it is already late. Let the crowds leave, so they can go to the villages and buy some food.”

₁₆Jesus replied, “They don't have to leave. Why don't you give them something to eat?”

₁₇But they said, “We have only five small loaves of bread and two fish.” ₁₈Jesus asked his disciples to bring the food to him, ₁₉and he told the crowd to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up towards heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and handed it to his disciples, and they gave it to the people.

₂₀After everyone had eaten all they wanted, Jesus' disciples picked up twelve large baskets of leftovers.

₂₁There were about five thousand men who ate, not counting the women and children.

₂₂Straight away, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake. But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. ₂₃Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later that evening, he was still there.

₂₄By this time the boat was a long way from the shore. It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves. ₂₅A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water towards his disciples. ₂₆When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming.

₂₇At once, Jesus said to them, “Don't worry! I am Jesus. Don't be afraid.”

₂₈Peter replied, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.”

₂₉“Come on!” Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water towards him.

₃₀But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.

₃₁Straight away, Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, “You don't have much faith. Why do you doubt?”

₃₂When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down. ₃₃The men in the boat worshipped Jesus and said, “You really are the Son of God!”

₃₄Jesus and his disciples crossed the lake and came to shore near the town of Gennesaret. ₃₅The people found out that he was there, and they sent word to everyone who lived in that part of the country. So they brought all the sick people to Jesus. ₃₆They begged him just to let them touch his clothes, and everyone who did was healed.