17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter. For God said, “If the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt arrayed for battle.

19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear a solemn oath when he said, “God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones with you from this place.”

20 They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 21And the Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night. 22Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place before the people.

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal-zephon.

3 For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’ 4And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”

So this is what the Israelites did.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”

6 So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him. 7He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.

8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly. 9The Egyptians— all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops— pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

13 But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the Lord’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. 16And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen. 18The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

19 And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them, 20so that it came between the camps of Egypt and Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided, 22and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.

23 And the Egyptians chased after them— all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen— and followed them into the sea. 24At morning watch, however, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion. 25He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the Lord swept them into the sea. 28The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen — the entire army of Pharaoh that had chased the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

29 But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. 30That day the Lord saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore. 31When Israel saw the great power that the Lord had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.

1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

23 When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”

24 “I will also ask you one question,” Jesus replied, “and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25What was the source of John’s baptism? Was it from heaven or from men?”

They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27So they answered, “We do not know.”

And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

28 But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

29 ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.

30 Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing.

31 Which of the two did the will of his father?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

33 Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.

34 When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. 35But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.

36 Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them.

37 Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?”

41“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

43 Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed. ”

45 When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them. 46Although they wanted to arrest Him, they were afraid of the crowds, because the people regarded Him as a prophet.

16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him: