¹Then the Lᴏʀᴅ spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.” ³And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lᴏʀᴅ brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. ⁴On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. ⁵And it shall be, when the Lᴏʀᴅ brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. ⁶Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁷Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. ⁸And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the Lᴏʀᴅ did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ ⁹It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lᴏʀᴅ’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lᴏʀᴅ has brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. ¹¹“And it shall be, when the Lᴏʀᴅ brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, ¹²that you shall set apart to the Lᴏʀᴅ all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the Lᴏʀᴅ’s. ¹³But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. ¹⁴So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the Lᴏʀᴅ brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ¹⁵And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lᴏʀᴅ killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lᴏʀᴅ all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lᴏʀᴅ brought us out of Egypt.” ¹⁷Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁹And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” ²⁰So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. ²¹And the Lᴏʀᴅ went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. ²²He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

¹He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. ²So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ ³Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’ ⁵So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ ⁷Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ⁸So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. ⁹And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. ¹⁰He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. ¹¹Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? ¹³No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” ¹⁴Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. ¹⁵And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. ¹⁶The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. ¹⁷And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. ¹⁸Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. ¹⁹“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²²So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ ²⁵But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ²⁶And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ ²⁷Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”

¹“I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman? ²For what is the allotment of God from above, And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high? ³Is it not destruction for the wicked, And disaster for the workers of iniquity? ⁴Does He not see my ways, And count all my steps? ⁵“If I have walked with falsehood, Or if my foot has hastened to deceit, ⁶Let me be weighed on honest scales, That God may know my integrity. ⁷If my step has turned from the way, Or my heart walked after my eyes, Or if any spot adheres to my hands, ⁸Then let me sow, and another eat; Yes, let my harvest be rooted out. ⁹“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door, ¹⁰Then let my wife grind for another, And let others bow down over her. ¹¹For that would be wickedness; Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment. ¹²For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction, And would root out all my increase. ¹³“If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me, ¹⁴What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him? ¹⁵Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb? ¹⁶“If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail, ¹⁷Or eaten my morsel by myself, So that the fatherless could not eat of it ¹⁸(But from my youth I reared him as a father, And from my mother’s womb I guided the widow); ¹⁹If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or any poor man without covering; ²⁰If his heart has not blessed me, And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; ²¹If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, When I saw I had help in the gate; ²²Then let my arm fall from my shoulder, Let my arm be torn from the socket. ²³For destruction from God is a terror to me, And because of His magnificence I cannot endure. ²⁴“If I have made gold my hope, Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’; ²⁵If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gained much; ²⁶If I have observed the sun when it shines, Or the moon moving in brightness, ²⁷So that my heart has been secretly enticed, And my mouth has kissed my hand; ²⁸This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, For I would have denied God who is above. ²⁹“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, Or lifted myself up when evil found him ³⁰(Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin By asking for a curse on his soul); ³¹If the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’ ³²(But no sojourner had to lodge in the street, For I have opened my doors to the traveler); ³³If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, By hiding my iniquity in my bosom, ³⁴Because I feared the great multitude, And dreaded the contempt of families, So that I kept silence And did not go out of the door— ³⁵Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, That my Prosecutor had written a book! ³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, And bind it on me like a crown; ³⁷I would declare to Him the number of my steps; Like a prince I would approach Him. ³⁸“If my land cries out against me, And its furrows weep together; ³⁹If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or caused its owners to lose their lives; ⁴⁰Then let thistles grow instead of wheat, And weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: ²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. ⁶Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. ⁷And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. ⁸For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, ¹⁰who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, ¹¹you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. ¹²For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. ¹³For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end ¹⁴(as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁵And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit— ¹⁶to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. ¹⁷Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? ¹⁸But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. ¹⁹For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. ²⁰For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. ²¹Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, ²²who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. ²³Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. ²⁴Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.