Exodus 16–18
1 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 Now the children of Israel said to them, “Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Indeed, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain amount every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. 5 And it shall come to pass that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, you shall know that the Lord has brought you out from the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because He hears your murmurings against the Lord. And what are we that you murmur against us?” 8 Then Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy, for the Lord hears your murmurings which you murmur against Him. And what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your murmurings.’”
10 So as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and indeed, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘In the evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”
13 So in the evening the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was surrounding the camp. 14 When the layer of dew evaporated, on the surface of the wilderness there lay a small flaky thing, as fine as the frost on the ground. 15 When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Every man is to gather of it according to what he will eat, an omer for every man, according to the number of your people. Every man should take for them for whoever lives in his tent.’”
17 The children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18 When they measured it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing left over, and he that gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according what he could eat.
19 Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until the morning.”
20 However, they did not listen to Moses, and some of them left part of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank, and Moses was angry with them.
21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to what he could eat. And when the sun got hot, it melted. 22 Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers per man, and then all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Tomorrow is the Sabbath, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake that which you will bake today, and boil that you will boil, and all that which remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’”
24 So they laid it up until the morning, just as Moses commanded, and it did not stink, nor was there any worm in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
27 It happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found nothing. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions? 29 See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Every man remain in his place. Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed and was white, and its taste was like wafers made with honey. 32 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations to come, so that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.’”
33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer full of manna in it, and place it before the Lord, to be kept for generations to come.”
34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony, to be kept. 35 The children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.
Chapter 17
1 All the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin, from place to place, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people contended with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink.”
And Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the Lord?”
3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why is it that you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do to this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Pass over before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. And take in your hand your rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Indeed, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and there water shall come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Then Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the contending of the children of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”
8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”
10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought against Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Now when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands became heavy. So they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 So Joshua laid low Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and rehearse it to Joshua, for I will utterly wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
15 Then Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner; 16 for he said, “For the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Chapter 18
1 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel His people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, 3 and her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom; for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” 4 And the name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
5 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he camped at the mountain of God. 6 And he said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law, Jethro, am coming to you, and your wife, and her two sons with her.”
7 Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent. 8 Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the hardships that had come on them along the way, and how the Lord delivered them.
9 Jethro rejoiced because of all the goodness which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 Jethro said, “The Lord be blessed, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, for in the matter in which they treated the people insolently, He was above them.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
13 On the next day, Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from the morning until the evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting by yourself while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?”
15 Then Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”
17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You will surely wear yourself out, both you, and these people who are with you, for this thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it by yourself. 19 Now listen to me, I will advise you, and may God be with you: You be a representative for the people to God so that you may bring their disputes to God. 20 And you shall teach them the statutes and laws and shall show them the way in which they must walk and the work that they must do. 21 Moreover, you shall choose out of all the people capable men who fear God, men of truth, hating dishonest gain, and place these men over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 Let them judge the people at all times, and let it be that every difficult matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge, so that it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you shall do this thing and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.”
24 So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything that he had said. 25 Moses chose capable men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 They judged the people at all times. They brought the difficult cases to Moses, but they judged every small matter themselves.
27 Moses sent out his father-in-law, and he went his way to his own land.
Matthew 18:1–20
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 Jesus called a little child to Him and set him in their midst, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself like this little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one such little child in My name receives Me.
6 “But whoever misleads one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for him to have a millstone hung about his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of temptations! For it must be that temptations come, but woe to that man by whom the temptation comes! 8 Therefore if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life lame or maimed than having two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than having two eyes to be thrown into the fire of hell.
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. 11For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search for the one which went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine which never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
15 “Now if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, then take with you one or two others, that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are assembled in My name, there I am in their midst.”