Exodus 4
Attesting Miracles
1 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ”
2 So the Lord said to him, “What is in your hand?” He said, “A rod.”†
3 Thus He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (so he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),
5 “so they may believe the Lord God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—appeared to you.”
6 Furthermore, the Lord said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” So he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, it was leprous like snow.
7 Again He said, “Put your hand in your bosom” (so he put his hand in his bosom again and then removed it; and it was restored to the complexion of his other flesh),†
8 “then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, they may believe the message of the second.
9 Then it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land; and the water you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”
10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “I pray, O Lord, I am not capable, neither before nor since You spoke to Your servant; but I am weak in speech and slow of tongue.”
11 So the Lord said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? And who made the mute, the deaf, the seeing, and the blind? Did not I, God?
12 Now therefore, go, and I will open your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
13 But he said, “I pray, O Lord, appoint another capable one whom You may send.”
14 Then the Lord was very angry with Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know he will speak for you, and indeed, he will come out to meet you; and indeed, when he sees you, he will be glad in heart.†
15 Now you shall speak to him and put My words in his mouth, and I will open your mouth and his mouth; and I will teach you what you shall do.
16 So he shall be your spokesman to the people, and he himself shall be your mouth; and you shall be to him as God.
17 Now you shall take in your hand the rod that was turned into a serpent, with which you shall work miracles.Ӡ
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 So Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “I will go and return to my brethren in Egypt and see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
19 Now in those days, after some time, the king of Egypt died. So the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.”
20 Then Moses took his wife and sons and set them on beasts of burden; and he returned to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
21 Again, the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you work before Pharaoh all the wonders I put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.†
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My firstborn son.†
23 So I say to you, ‘Let My people go so they may serve Me.’ But if you refuse to let them go, indeed, I will kill your firstborn son.” ’ ”
24 Thus it came to pass on the way, at the inn, that the Angel of the Lord met him and sought to kill him.
25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and fell at His feet and said, “The flow of blood from my son’s circumcision is stopped.”
26 So He departed from him, because she said, “The flow of blood from my son’s circumcision is stopped.”
27 Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on the mountain of God, and they kissed one another.
28 Then Moses reported to Aaron all the words of the Lord which He sent to him, and all the signs which He commanded him.
29 Thus Moses and Aaron went and gathered together the elders of the children of Israel.
30 Aaron then spoke all the words the Lord spoke to Moses, and he did the signs in the sight of the people.†
31 So the people believed and rejoiced because God had visited the children of Israel and because He had seen their affliction. Then the people bowed and worshiped.
Psalms 48
11 Foolish and senseless men die together, And they leave their wealth to strangers;
12 And their graves will be their homes continually, Their dwelling places from generation to generation. They called their lands after their own names.
13 A man being in honor did not understand; He was compared to the senseless cattle, and became like them.
14 Their road is a snare for them, Yet afterwards, men will be well pleased with their sayings.
15 Like sheep, they are put in Hades; death will shepherd them; And the upright shall gain dominion over them in the morning; And their help shall be made old in Hades away from their glory.
16 Yet God will redeem my soul From the hand of Hades when He shall receive me. (Pause)
17 Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, And when the glory of his house is increased;
18 For when he dies, he shall carry nothing away; Neither will his glory descend with him.
19 For his soul shall be blessed in his lifetime; He will acknowledge You when You do him good.
20 He shall enter the generations of his fathers; He shall not see light forever.
21 A man being in honor did not understand; He was compared to the senseless cattle, and became like them.
Proverbs of Solomon 10
7 The blessing of the Lord is upon the head of a righteous man, But untimely grief will cover the mouth of the ungodly.
8 The remembrance of the righteous is with eulogies, But the name of an ungodly man is extinguished.
9 The wise man in heart will receive the commandments, But the man unguarded in speech will be overthrown in his perverseness.†
10 He who walks in sincerity walks confidently, But he who perverts his ways will be known.
11 He who winks his eyes deceitfully gathers grief for men, But he who reproves boldly is a peacemaker.
Mark 4
The Parable of the Sower
1 And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.
2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:†
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.
6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Why Parables?
10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.†
11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
The Parable of the Sower Explained
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?†
14 The sower sows the word.
15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,
19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”