Hebrews 8; Exodus 5; Exodus 6:1-27; Proverbs 1

Hebrews 8

1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;

5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--

9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."

13 In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Exodus 5

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.' "

2 And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go."

3 So they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword."

4 Then the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor."

5 And Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!"

6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,

7 "You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.

8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'

9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words."

10 And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, "Thus says Pharaoh: 'I will not give you straw.

11 Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.' "

12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.

13 And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, "Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw."

14 Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, "Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?"

15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why are you dealing thus with your servants?

16 There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, 'Make brick!' And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people."

17 But he said, "You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.'

18 Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks."

19 And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, "You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota."

20 Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them.

21 And they said to them, "Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."

22 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all."

Exodus 6:1-27

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land."

2 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: "I am the Lord.

3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them.

4 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers.

5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: 'I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

8 And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.' "

9 So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.

10 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

11 "Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land."

12 And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, "The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?"

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

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

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

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

17 The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi according to their families.

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

19 The sons of Merari were Mahali and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.

20 Now Amram took for himself Jochebed, his father's sister, as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven.

21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

22 And the sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri.

23 Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

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

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

26 These are the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, "Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies."

27 These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are the same Moses and Aaron.

Proverbs 1

1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

2 To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding,

3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity;

4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion--

5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

6 To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles.

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother;

9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.

10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.

11 If they say, "Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;

13 We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil;

14 Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse"--

15 My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path;

16 For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.

17 Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird;

18 But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives.

19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners.

20 Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares.

21 She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words:

22 "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge.

23 Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

24 Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,

25 Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke,

26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes,

27 When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.

28 "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord,

30 They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke.

31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies.

32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them;

33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil."