The Israelites Multiply in Egypt

¹These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

⁴Dan and Naphtali;Gad and Asher.

⁵The descendants of Jacob numbered seventyin all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.

⁶Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,

⁷but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

Oppression by a New King

⁸Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

⁹“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.

¹⁰Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”

¹¹So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

¹²But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

¹³They worked the Israelites ruthlessly

¹⁴and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

¹⁶“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”

¹⁷The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.

¹⁸So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

¹⁹The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”

²⁰So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.

²¹And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.

²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrewsyou must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”

Jerusalem Will Fall to Babylon

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said,

²“Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzarking of Babylon is waging war against us. Perhaps the LORD will perform for us something like all His past wonders, so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us.”

³But Jeremiah answered, “You are to tell Zedekiah that

⁴this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will turn against you the weapons of war in your hands, with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeanswho besiege you outside the wall, and I will assemble their forces in the center of this city.

⁵And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger, fury, and great wrath.

⁶I will strike down the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a terrible plague.’

⁷‘After that,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in this city who survive the plague and sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will not spare them or show pity or compassion.’

⁸Furthermore, you are to tell this people that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

⁹Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war.

¹⁰For I have set My face against this city to bring disaster and not good, declares the LORD. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it with fire.’

A Message to the House of David

¹¹Moreover, tell the house of the king of Judah to hear the word of the LORD.

¹²O house of David, this is what the LORD says:‘Administer justice every morning,and rescue the victim of robberyfrom the hand of his oppressor,or My wrath will go forth like fireand burn with no one to extinguish itbecause of their evil deeds.

¹³Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley,atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us?Who can enter our dwellings?”

¹⁴I will punish you as your deeds deserve,declares the LORD.I will kindle a fire in your forestthat will consume everything around you.’”

Offering Firstfruits and Tithes

¹When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it,

²you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name,

³to the priest who is serving at that time, and say to him, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have entered the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.”

⁴Then the priest shall take the basket from your hands and place it before the altar of the LORD your God,

⁵and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.

⁶But the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, putting us to hard labor.

⁷So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers; and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression.

⁸Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, signs, and wonders.

⁹And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

¹⁰And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land that You, O LORD, have given me.”Then you are to place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before Him.

¹¹So you shall rejoice—you, the Levite, and the foreigner dwelling among you—in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.

¹²When you have finished laying aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat and be filled within your gates.

¹³Then you shall declare in the presence of the LORD your God, “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all the commandments You have given me. I have not transgressed or forgotten Your commandments.

¹⁴I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything You commanded me.

¹⁵Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us as You swore to our fathers—a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Obey the LORD’s Commands

¹⁶The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these statutes and ordinances. You must be careful to follow them with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹⁷Today you have proclaimed that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances, and listen to His voice.

¹⁸And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments,

¹⁹that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God, as He has promised.

Bless the LORD, All You Servants

¹Come, bless the LORD,all you servants of the LORDwho serve by nightin the house of the LORD!

²Lift up your hands to the sanctuaryand bless the LORD!

³May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,bless you from Zion.