1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials, that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine among them, 2and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how severely I dealt with the Egyptians when I performed miraculous signs among them, so that all of you may know that I am the Lord.”

3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. 4But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow. 5They will cover the face of the land so that no one can see it. They will devour whatever is left after the hail and eat every tree that grows in your fields. 6They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and every Egyptian— something neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since the day they came into this land.’”

Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh’s presence.

7 Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”

8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the Lord your God,” he said. “But who exactly will be going?”

9“We will go with our young and old,” Moses replied. “We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.”

10 Then Pharaoh told them, “May the Lord be with you if I ever let you go with your little ones. Clearly you are bent on evil. 11No, only the men may go and worship the Lord, since that is what you have been requesting.” And Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and devour every plant in the land — everything that the hail has left behind.”

13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the Lord sent an east wind across the land. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.

14 The locusts swarmed across the land and settled over the entire territory of Egypt. Never before had there been so many locusts, and never again will there be. 15They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the Lord your God, that He may remove this death from me.”

18 So Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the Lord. 19And the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind that carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained anywhere in Egypt.

20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt — a palpable darkness.”

22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days. 23No one could see anyone else, and for three days no one left his place. Yet all the Israelites had light in their dwellings.

24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the Lord. Even your little ones may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”

25 But Moses replied, “You must also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the Lord our God. 26Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we will need some of them to worship the Lord our God, and we will not know how we are to worship the Lord until we arrive.”

27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go. 28“Depart from me!” Pharaoh said to Moses. “Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”

29“As you say,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.”

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt one more plague. After that, he will allow you to leave this place. And when he lets you go, he will drive you out completely. 2Now announce to the people that men and women alike should ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.”

3 And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.

4 So Moses declared, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt, 5and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well as the firstborn of all the cattle. 6Then a great cry will go out over all the land of Egypt. Such an outcry has never been heard before and will never be heard again. 7But among all the Israelites, not even a dog will snarl at man or beast.’

Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8And all these officials of yours will come and bow before me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that, I will depart.”

And hot with anger, Moses left Pharaoh’s presence.

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 so that he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.

1 Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2“This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.

3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household. 4If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly.

5Your lamb must be an unblemished year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats. 6You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. 7They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.

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

9 Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire— its head and legs and inner parts. 10Do not leave any of it until morning; before the morning you must burn up any part that is left over.

11 This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a sign; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

1 “ For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5So they went.

He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.

6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.

7 ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and moving on to the first.’

9 The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when the original workers came, they assumed they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius.

11 On receiving their pay, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

13 But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. 15Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside and said, 18“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death 19and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day He will be raised to life.”

20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him.

21 “What do you want?” He inquired.

She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at Your left.”

22 “You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” the brothers answered.

23 “You will indeed drink My cup,” Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”

24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. 26It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave — 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”