Exodus 9; Exodus 10; Exodus 11; Matthew 15:21-39

Exodus 9

1 The Lord said to Moses, "Go to the king and tell him that the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

2 If you again refuse to let them go,

3 I will punish you by sending a terrible disease on all your animals - your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats.

4 I will make a distinction between the animals of the Israelites and those of the Egyptians, and no animal that belongs to the Israelites will die.

5 I, the Lord, have set tomorrow as the time when I will do this.' "

6 The next day the Lord did as he had said, and all the animals of the Egyptians died, but not one of the animals of the Israelites died.

7 The king asked what had happened and was told that none of the animals of the Israelites had died. But he was stubborn and would not let the people go.

8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Take a few handfuls of ashes from a furnace; Moses is to throw them into the air in front of the king.

9 They will spread out like fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and everywhere they will produce boils that become open sores on the people and the animals."

10 So they got some ashes and stood before the king; Moses threw them into the air, and they produced boils that became open sores on the people and the animals.

11 The magicians were not able to appear before Moses, because they were covered with boils, like all the other Egyptians.

12 But the Lord made the king stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

13 The Lord then said to Moses, "Early tomorrow morning meet with the king and tell him that the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

14 This time I will punish not only your officials and your people, but I will punish you as well, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the world.

15 If I had raised my hand to strike you and your people with disease, you would have been completely destroyed.

16 But to show you my power I have let you live so that my fame might spread over the whole world.

17 Yet you are still arrogant and refuse to let my people go.

18 This time tomorrow I will cause a heavy hailstorm, such as Egypt has never known in all its history.

19 Now give orders for your livestock and everything else you have in the open to be put under shelter. Hail will fall on the people and animals left outside unprotected, and they will all die.' "

20 Some of the king's officials were afraid because of what the Lord had said, and they brought their slaves and animals indoors for shelter.

21 Others, however, paid no attention to the Lord's warning and left their slaves and animals out in the open.

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Raise your hand toward the sky, and hail will fall over the whole land of Egypt - on the people, the animals, and all the plants in the fields."

23 So Moses raised his stick toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the ground. The Lord sent

24 a heavy hailstorm, with lightning flashing back and forth. It was the worst storm that Egypt had ever known in all its history.

25 All over Egypt the hail struck down everything in the open, including all the people and all the animals. It beat down all the plants in the fields and broke all the trees.

26 The region of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was the only place where there was no hail.

27 The king sent for Moses and Aaron and said, "This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and my people and I are in the wrong.

28 Pray to the Lord! We have had enough of this thunder and hail! I promise to let you go; you don't have to stay here any longer."

29 Moses said to him, "As soon as I go out of the city, I will lift up my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord.

30 But I know that you and your officials do not yet fear the Lord God."

31 The flax and the barley were ruined, because the barley was ripe, and the flax was budding.

32 But none of the wheat was ruined, because it ripens later.

33 Moses left the king, went out of the city, and lifted up his hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder, the hail, and the rain all stopped.

34 When the king saw what had happened, he sinned again. He and his officials remained as stubborn as ever

35 and, just as the Lord had foretold through Moses, the king would not let the Israelites go.

Exodus 10

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go and see the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, in order that I may perform these miracles among them

2 and in order that you may be able to tell your children and grandchildren how I made fools of the Egyptians when I performed the miracles. All of you will know that I am the Lord."

3 So Moses and Aaron went to the king and said to him, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, "How much longer will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

4 If you keep on refusing, then I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow.

5 There will be so many that they will completely cover the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not destroy, even the trees that are left.

6 They will fill your palaces and the houses of all your officials and all your people. They will be worse than anything your ancestors ever saw.' " Then Moses turned and left.

7 The king's officials said to him, "How long is this man going to give us trouble? Let the Israelite men go, so that they can worship the Lord their God. Don't you realize that Egypt is ruined?"

8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to the king, and he said to them, "You may go and worship the Lord your God. But exactly who will go?"

9 Moses answered, "We will all go, including our children and our old people. We will take our sons and daughters, our sheep and goats, and our cattle, because we must hold a festival to honor the Lord."

10 The king said, "I swear by the Lord that I will never let you take your women and children! It is clear that you are plotting to revolt.

11 No! Only the men may go and worship the Lord if that is what you want." With that, Moses and Aaron were driven out of the king's presence.

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring the locusts. They will come and eat everything that grows, everything that has survived the hail."

13 So Moses raised his stick, and the Lord caused a wind from the east to blow on the land all that day and all that night. By morning it had brought the locusts.

14 They came in swarms and settled over the whole country. It was the largest swarm of locusts that had ever been seen or that ever would be seen again.

15 They covered the ground until it was black with them; they ate everything that the hail had left, including all the fruit on the trees. Not a green thing was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

16 Then the king hurriedly called Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.

17 Now forgive my sin this one time and pray to the Lord your God to take away this fatal punishment from me."

18 Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord.

19 And the Lord changed the east wind into a very strong west wind, which picked up the locusts and blew them into the Gulf of Suez. Not one locust was left in all of Egypt.

20 But the Lord made the king stubborn, and he did not let the Israelites go.

21 The Lord then said to Moses, "Raise your hand toward the sky, and a darkness thick enough to be felt will cover the land of Egypt."

22 Moses raised his hand toward the sky, and there was total darkness throughout Egypt for three days.

23 The Egyptians could not see each other, and no one left his house during that time. But the Israelites had light where they were living.

24 The king called Moses and said, "You may go and worship the Lord; even your women and children may go with you. But your sheep, goats, and cattle must stay here."

25 Moses answered, "Then you would have to provide us with animals for sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to the Lord our God.

26 No, we will take our animals with us; not one will be left behind. We ourselves must select the animals with which to worship the Lord our God. And until we get there, we will not know what animals to sacrifice to him."

27 The Lord made the king stubborn, and he would not let them go.

28 He said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Don't let me ever see you again! On the day I do, you will die!"

29 "You are right," Moses answered. "You will never see me again."

Exodus 11

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will send only one more punishment on the king of Egypt and his people. After that he will let you leave. In fact, he will drive all of you out of here.

2 Now speak to the people of Israel and tell all of them to ask their neighbors for gold and silver jewelry."

3 The Lord made the Egyptians respect the Israelites. Indeed, the officials and all the people considered Moses to be a very great man.

4 Moses then said to the king, "The Lord says, "At about midnight I will go through Egypt,

5 and every first-born son in Egypt will die, from the king's son, who is heir to the throne, to the son of the slave woman who grinds grain. The first-born of all the cattle will die also.

6 There will be loud crying all over Egypt, such as there has never been before or ever will be again.

7 But not even a dog will bark at the Israelites or their animals. Then you will know that I, the Lord, make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites.' "

8 Moses concluded by saying, "All your officials will come to me and bow down before me, and they will beg me to take all my people and go away. After that, I will leave." Then in great anger Moses left the king.

9 The Lord had said to Moses, "The king will continue to refuse to listen to you, in order that I may do more of my miracles in Egypt."

10 Moses and Aaron performed all these miracles before the king, but the Lord made him stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites leave his country.

Matthew 15:21-39

21 Jesus left that place and went off to the territory near the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

22 A Canaanite woman who lived in that region came to him. "Son of David!" she cried out. "Have mercy on me, sir! My daughter has a demon and is in a terrible condition."

23 But Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples came to him and begged him, "Send her away! She is following us and making all this noise!"

24 Then Jesus replied, "I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the people of Israel."

25 At this the woman came and fell at his feet. "Help me, sir!" she said.

26 Jesus answered, "It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."

27 "That's true, sir," she answered, "but even the dogs eat the leftovers that fall from their masters' table."

28 So Jesus answered her, "You are a woman of great faith! What you want will be done for you." And at that very moment her daughter was healed.

29 Jesus left there and went along by Lake Galilee. He climbed a hill and sat down.

30 Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb, and many other sick people, whom they placed at Jesus' feet; and he healed them.

31 The people were amazed as they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised the God of Israel.

32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away without feeding them, for they might faint on their way home."

33 The disciples asked him, "Where will we find enough food in this desert to feed this crowd?"

34 "How much bread do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven loaves," they answered, "and a few small fish."

35 So Jesus ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.

36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks to God, broke them, and gave them to the disciples; and the disciples gave them to the people.

37 They all ate and had enough. Then the disciples took up seven baskets full of pieces left over.

38 The number of men who ate was four thousand, not counting the women and children.

39 Then Jesus sent the people away, got into a boat, and went to the territory of Magadan.