Hebrews 10:19-39; Exodus 11; Exodus 12; Proverbs 4

Hebrews 10:19-39

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus,

20 by the new and living way that He has inaugurated for us, through the curtain (that is, His flesh);

21 and since we have a great high priest over the house of God,

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled [clean] from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

24 And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works,

25 not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

26 For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.

28 If anyone disregards Moses' law, he dies without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

29 How much worse punishment, do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

30 For we know the One who has said, Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge His people.

31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

32 Remember the earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings.

33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to taunts and afflictions, and at other times you were companions of those who were treated that way.

34 For you sympathized with the prisoners and accepted with joy the confiscation of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves have a better and enduring possession.

35 So don't throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God's will, you may receive what was promised.

37 For in yet a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.

38 But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

39 But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life.

Exodus 11

1 The Lord said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he lets [you] go, he will drive you out of here.

2 Now announce to the people that both men and women should ask their neighbors for gold and silver jewelry."

3 The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And the man Moses was feared in the land of Egypt, by Pharaoh's officials and the people.

4 So Moses said, "This is what the Lord says: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt

5 and every firstborn [male] in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is behind the millstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock.

6 Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before, or ever will be again.

7 But against all the Israelites, whether man or beast, not [even] a dog will snarl, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

8 All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me, saying: Leave, you and all the people who follow you. After that, I will leave.' " And he left Pharaoh's presence in fierce anger.

9 The Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt."

10 Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.

Exodus 12

1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

2 "This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year.

3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to [their] fathers' households, one animal per household.

4 If the household is too small for a [whole] animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each person will eat.

5 You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats.

6 You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.

7 They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them.

8 They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

9 Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire-its head as well as its legs and inner organs.

10 Do not let any of it remain until morning; you must burn up any part of it that does remain until morning.

11 Here is how you must eat it: dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord's Passover.

12 "I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn [male] in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.

13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy [you] when I strike the land of Egypt.

14 "This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.

15 You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel.

16 You are to hold a sacred assembly on the first day and another sacred assembly on the seventh day. No work may be done on those [days] except for preparing what people need to eat-you may do only that.

17 "You are to observe the [Festival of] Unleavened Bread because on this very day I brought your ranks out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute.

18 You are to eat unleavened bread in the first [month], from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day.

19 Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreign resident or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel.

20 Do not eat anything leavened; eat unleavened bread in all your homes."

21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb.

22 Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning.

23 When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, He will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike [you].

24 "Keep this command permanently as a statute for you and your descendants.

25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as He promised, you are to observe this ritual.

26 When your children ask you, 'What does this ritual mean to you?'

27 you are to reply, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.' " So the people bowed down and worshiped.

28 Then the Israelites went and did [this]; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

29 Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn [male] in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock.

30 During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn't a house without someone dead.

31 He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, "Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship the Lord as you have asked.

32 Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked, and leave, and this will also be a blessing to me."

33 Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said, "We're all going to die!"

34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.

35 The Israelites acted on Moses' word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.

36 And the Lord gave the people such favor in the Egyptians' sight that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.

37 The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about 600,000 soldiers on foot, besides their families.

38 An ethnically diverse crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds.

39 The people baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves, since it had no yeast; for when they had been driven out of Egypt they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves.

40 The time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years.

41 At the end of 430 years, on that same day, all the divisions of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

42 It was a night of vigil in honor of the Lord, because He would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the Lord, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.

43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner may eat it.

44 But any slave a man has purchased may eat it, after you have circumcised him.

45 A temporary resident or hired hand may not eat the Passover.

46 It is to be eaten in one house. You may not take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of its bones.

47 The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

48 If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the Lord's Passover, every male in his household must be circumcised, and then he may participate; he will become like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat it.

49 The same law will apply to both the native and the foreigner who resides among you."

50 Then all the Israelites did [this]; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

51 On that same day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their military divisions.

Proverbs 4

1 Listen, [my] sons, to a father's discipline, and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

2 for I am giving you good instruction. Don't abandon my teaching.

3 When I was a son with my father, tender and precious to my mother,

4 he taught me and said: "Your heart must hold on to my words. Keep my commands and live.

5 Get wisdom, get understanding; don't forget or turn away from the words of my mouth.

6 Don't abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you; love her, and she will guard you.

7 Wisdom is supreme-so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.

8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.

9 She will place a garland of grace on your head; she will give you a crown of beauty."

10 Listen, my son. Accept my words, and you will live many years.

11 I am teaching you the way of wisdom; I am guiding you on straight paths.

12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered; when you run, you will not stumble.

13 Hold on to instruction; don't let go. Guard it, for it is your life.

14 Don't set foot on the path of the wicked; don't proceed in the way of evil ones.

15 Avoid it; don't travel on it. Turn away from it, and pass it by.

16 For they can't sleep unless they have done what is evil; they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

17 They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

18 The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they don't know what makes them stumble.

20 My son, pay attention to my words; listen closely to my sayings.

21 Don't lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.

22 For they are life to those who find them, and health to one's whole body.

23 Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

24 Don't let your mouth speak dishonestly, and don't let your lips talk deviously.

25 Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.

26 Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.

27 Don't turn to the right or to the left; keep your feet away from evil.