22 So Moses returned to the Lord and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? 23Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”

1 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let the people go; because of My strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

2 God also told Moses, “I am the Lord. 3I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the Lord I did not make Myself known to them. 4I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners. 5Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant.

6 Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord!’”

9 Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him.

10 So the Lord said to Moses, 11“Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.”

12 But in the Lord’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?”

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

14 These were the heads of their fathers’ houses:

26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.” 27Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

28 Now on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, 29He said to him, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you.”

30 But in the Lord’s presence Moses replied, “Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

1 The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2You are to speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land.

3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4Pharaoh will not listen to you.

Then I will lay My hand on Egypt, and by mighty acts of judgment I will bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. 5And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”

6 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. 7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.”

10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

11 But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts. 12Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up the other staffs.

13 Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. 17This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood. 18The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink its water.’”

19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt— over their rivers and canals and ponds and all the reservoirs— that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”

20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood. 21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt.

22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart. 24So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.

25 And seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!

23 Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlements, a debtor owing ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.

26 Then the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Have patience with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’

27 His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him.

28 But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’

29 So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’

30 But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt.

31 When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master.

32 Then the master summoned him and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed.

35 That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

3 Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

4 Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ ? 6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

7“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses order a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery. ”

10 His disciples said to Him, “If this is the case between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 “Not everyone can accept this word,” He replied, “but only those to whom it has been given. 12For there are eunuchs who were born that way; others were made that way by men; and still others live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”