Exodus 9
The Plague of Diseased Cattle
1 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go so they may serve Me.
2 But if you refuse to let them go and still hold them,
3 behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the fields—on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the oxen, and the sheep—a very severe pestilence.
4 Then I will make a clear distinction between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ”
5 Then God appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”
6 So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the cattle of the Egyptians died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel, not one died.
7 Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one among the cattle of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.†
The Plague of Boils
8 So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh;
9 and let it become dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils to break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”
10 So they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven; and they caused boils to break out in sores on man and beast.
11 Now the sorcerers could not stand before Moses because of the sores, for the sores were on the sorcerers and in all the land of Egypt.
12 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart; and he did not heed them, as the Lord said to Moses.
The Plague of Hail
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, so they may serve Me,
14 for at this time I will send all My plagues into your very heart, and on your servants and your people, that you may know there is not another such as I in all the earth.†
15 For now I will stretch forth My hand and smite you and kill your people, and you will be cut off from the earth.
16 But for this very reason were you preserved, that I might display in you My strength, and that My name might be declared in all the earth.
17 As yet, you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go.†
18 Behold, tomorrow about this time, I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now.
19 Therefore, hurry now and gather your cattle and all you have in the fields, for the hail shall come down on every man and animal found in the fields; and whatever is not brought home shall die.” ’ ”
20 Thus he who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh gathered his cattle into the houses.†
21 But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and cattle in the field.
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there shall be hail in all the land of Egypt—both on man and cattle, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”
23 So Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. Thus the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.
24 This hail and the fire mingled with it were so very heavy, there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation; and
25 throughout the whole land of Egypt it struck both man and cattle and every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.
26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
27 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are ungodly.
28 Therefore, pray for me to the Lord, and let Him cause the thunderings of God to cease, and the hail and fire, for I will let you go and you shall stay no longer.”
29 So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail and rain, that you may know the earth is the Lord’s.
30 But as for you and your servants, I know you will not yet fear the Lord.”
31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was ripe and the flax was beginning to seed.
32 But as for the wheat and the rye, they were not struck, for they were late crops.
33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the Lord; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.
34 Thus when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants.
35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord said to Moses.
Psalms 51
1 For the End; concerning understanding; by David; †
2 When Doeg the Edomite came and reported to Saul and said, “David went to the house of Abimelech.”
3 Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man, And in lawlessness all the day long?
4 Your tongue devises wrongdoing; You work deceit like a sharpened razor.
5 You love evil rather than good, Wickedness rather than speaking righteousness.
6 You love all the words of destruction; You love a deceitful tongue.
7 Therefore, God shall destroy you completely; He shall pluck you up and remove you from your dwelling, And uproot you from the land of the living. (Pause)
8 The righteous also shall see and fear, And shall laugh at him, saying,
9 “Behold, this man did not make God his helper, But hoped in the abundance of his riches; And he was made powerful in his vanity.”
10 But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God; I hope in God’s mercy Forever and unto ages of ages.
11 I will give thanks to You forever for what You did, And I will wait on Your name; For it is good in the sight of Your holy ones.
Proverbs of Solomon 11
The Fruits of Righteousness
1 Deceitful scales are an abomination before the Lord, But a righteous weight is acceptable to Him.
2 Wherever arrogance enters, there also is dishonor, But the mouth of the humble meditates on wisdom.†
3 When a righteous man dies, he leaves regret, But the destruction of the ungodly is immediate and brings joy.
4 Righteousness cuts straight and blameless paths, But ungodliness embraces wrongdoing.†
5 The righteousness of upright men delivers them, But lawless men are taken to their destruction.
Mark 6
Feeding the Five Thousand
30 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.†
31 And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.†
32 So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.
33 But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him.
34 And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.
35 When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.
36 Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.”
37 But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”†
38 But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.”
39 Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.
40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.
41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.
42 So they all ate and were filled.
43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.
44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.
Jesus Walks on Water
45 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.†
46 And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.
47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land.
48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.
49 And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out;
50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
51 Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.
52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.†
Many Made Whole
53 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there.
54 And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him,
55 ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was.
56 Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.†