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The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the river bank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake. ¹⁶Say to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.’ But until now you have not listened. ¹⁷Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am the Lord.’ See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood. ¹⁸The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.” ’ ¹⁹The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its canals, and its ponds, and all its pools of water—so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.” ’

20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood, ²¹and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt. ²²But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. ²³Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. ²⁴And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river.

⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in.
⁸ Who is the King of glory?
   The Lord, strong and mighty,
   the Lord, mighty in battle.
⁹ Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰ Who is this King of glory?
   The Lord of hosts,
   he is the King of glory.
          Selah

³ The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
   the floods have lifted up their voice;
   the floods lift up their roaring.
⁴ More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
   more majestic than the waves^* of the sea,
   majestic on high is the Lord!

²³ Some went down to the sea in ships,
   doing business on the mighty waters;
²⁴ they saw the deeds of the Lord,
   his wondrous works in the deep.
²⁵ For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
   which lifted up the waves of the sea.
²⁶ They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths;
   their courage melted away in their calamity;
²⁷ they reeled and staggered like drunkards,
   and were at their wits’ end.
²⁸ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
   and he brought them out from their distress;
²⁹ he made the storm be still,
   and the waves of the sea were hushed.
³⁰ Then they were glad because they had quiet,
   and he brought them to their desired haven.
³¹ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
   for his wonderful works to humankind.
³² Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
   and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

God’s People Are Comforted

40Comfort, O comfort my people,
   says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   and cry to her
that she has served her term,
   that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
   double for all her sins.

³ A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
   make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
   and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
   and the rough places a plain.
⁵ Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
   and all people shall see it together,
   for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

²⁰ Lift up your eyes and see
   those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
   your beautiful flock?
²¹ What will you say when they set as head over you
   those whom you have trained
   to be your allies?
Will not pangs take hold of you,
   like those of a woman in labour?
²² And if you say in your heart,
   ‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
   that your skirts are lifted up,
   and you are violated.
²³ Can Ethiopians^* change their skin
   or leopards their spots?
Then also you can do good
   who are accustomed to do evil.
²⁴ I will scatter you^* like chaff
   driven by the wind from the desert.
²⁵ This is your lot,
   the portion I have measured out to you, says the Lord,
because you have forgotten me
   and trusted in lies.
²⁶ I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
   and your shame will be seen.
²⁷ I have seen your abominations,
   your adulteries and neighings, your shameless prostitutions
   on the hills of the countryside.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
   How long will it be
   before you are made clean?

⁶ Flee from the midst of Babylon,
   save your lives, each of you!
Do not perish because of her guilt,
   for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
   he is repaying her what is due.
⁷ Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
   making all the earth drunken;
the nations drank of her wine,
   and so the nations went mad.
⁸ Suddenly Babylon has fallen and is shattered;
   wail for her!
Bring balm for her wound;
   perhaps she may be healed.
⁹ We tried to heal Babylon,
   but she could not be healed.
Forsake her, and let each of us go
   to our own country;
for her judgement has reached up to heaven
   and has been lifted up even to the skies.
¹⁰ The Lord has brought forth our vindication;
   come, let us declare in Zion
   the work of the Lord our God.

Seventh Vision: The Woman in a Basket

5 Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, ‘Look up and see what this is that is coming out.’ ⁶I said, ‘What is it?’ He said, ‘This is a basket^* coming out.’ And he said, ‘This is their iniquity^* in all the land.’ ⁷Then a leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket!^{* 8}And he said, ‘This is Wickedness.’ So he thrust her back into the basket,^* and pressed the leaden weight down on its mouth. ⁹Then I looked up and saw two women coming forward. The wind was in their wings; they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket^* between earth and sky. ¹⁰Then I said to the angel who talked with me, ‘Where are they taking the basket?’^{* 11}He said to me, ‘To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it; and when this is prepared, they will set the basket^* down there on its base.’

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18 In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once. ²⁰When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ ²¹Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea”, it will be done. ²²Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.’

11 ‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you^* do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^{* 14}And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.^*