NLT One Year Bible - Flipbook - Page 115
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know that the Lord makes a distinction
between the Egyptians and the Israelites. 8All the officials of Egypt will run to
me and fall to the ground before me.
‘Please leave!’ they will beg. ‘Hurry! And
take all your followers with you.’ Only
then will I go!” Then, burning with anger, Moses left Pharaoh.
9Now the Lord had told Moses earlier, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, but
then I will do even more mighty miracles in the land of Egypt.” 10Moses and
Aaron performed these miracles in Pharaoh’s presence, but the Lord hardened
Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let the
Israelites leave the country.
12:1While
the Israelites were still in the
land of Egypt, the Lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron:
2“From now on, this month will be the
first month of the year for you. 3Announce to the whole community of Israel
that on the tenth day of this month each
family must choose a lamb or a young
goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each
household. 4If a family is too small to eat
a whole animal, let them share with another family in the neighborhood. Divide
the animal according to the size of each
family and how much they can eat. 5 The
animal you select must be a one-year-old
male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects.
6“Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth
day of this first month. Then the whole
assembly of the community of Israel
must slaughter their lamb or young goat
at twilight. 7 They are to take some of the
blood and smear it on the sides and top
of the doorframes of the houses where
they eat the animal. 8That same night
they must roast the meat over a fire and
eat it along with bitter salad greens and
bread made without yeast. 9Do not eat
any of the meat raw or boiled in water.
The whole animal—including the head,
legs, and internal organs—must be
roasted over a fire. 10Do not leave any of
it until the next morning. Burn whatever
is not eaten before morning.
J A N U A R Y
3 0
11“These
are your instructions for
eating this meal: Be fully dressed,* wear
your sandals, and carry your walking
stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover.
12On that night I will pass through the
land of Egypt and strike down every
firstborn son and firstborn male animal
in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I
am the Lord! 13But the blood on your
doorposts will serve as a sign, marking
the houses where you are staying. When
I see the blood, I will pass over you. This
plague of death will not touch you when
I strike the land of Egypt.”
10:1 Hebrew have made his heart and his officials’ hearts
heavy. 10:19 Hebrew sea of reeds. 12:11 Hebrew Bind
up your loins.
MATTHEW 20:1-28
“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the
landowner who went out early one
morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay the normal daily
wage* and sent them out to work.
3“At nine o’clock in the morning he
was passing through the marketplace
and saw some people standing around
doing nothing. 4So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever
was right at the end of the day. 5 So they
went to work in the vineyard. At noon
and again at three o’clock he did the
same thing.
6“At five o’clock that afternoon he was
in town again and saw some more people
standing around. He asked them, ‘Why
haven’t you been working today?’
7“They replied, ‘Because no one hired
us.’
“The landowner told them, ‘Then go
out and join the others in my vineyard.’
8“That evening he told the foreman to
call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9 When
those hired at five o’clock were paid, each
received a full day’s wage. 10When those
hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But
they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11When
they received their pay, they protested to
