Exodus 19

• 1. In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt-on the very day-they came to the Desert of Sinai.
• 2. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.
• 3. Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel:
• 4. 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.
• 5. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,
• 6. you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."
• 7. So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak.
• 8. The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
• 9. The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said.
• 10. And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes
• 11. and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
• 12. Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
• 13. He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.' Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."
• 14. After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.
• 15. Then he said to the people, "Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations."
• 16. On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
• 17. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
• 18. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently,
• 19. and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
• 20. The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up
• 21. and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish.
• 22. Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them."
• 23. Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.'"
• 24. The LORD replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them."
• 25. So Moses went down to the people and told them.

Luke 23

• 1. Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate.
• 2. And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king."
• 3. So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
• 4. Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."
• 5. But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."
• 6. On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean.
• 7. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
• 8. When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle.
• 9. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.
• 10. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.
• 11. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.
• 12. That day Herod and Pilate became friends--before this they had been enemies.
• 13. Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people,
• 14. and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.
• 15. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.
• 16. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."
• 17. See Footnote
• 18. With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!"
• 19. (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
• 20. Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.
• 21. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
• 22. For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."
• 23. But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.
• 24. So Pilate decided to grant their demand.
• 25. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
• 26. As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
• 27. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.
• 28. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
• 29. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'
• 30. Then "'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!"'
• 31. For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
• 32. Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.
• 33. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left.
• 34. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
• 35. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
• 36. The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar
• 37. and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
• 38. There was a written notice above him, which read:|sc THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
• 39. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
• 40. But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?
• 41. We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
• 42. Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. "
• 43. Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
• 44. It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,
• 45. for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
• 46. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
• 47. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."
• 48. When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.
• 49. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
• 50. Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man,
• 51. who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.
• 52. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body.
• 53. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.
• 54. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
• 55. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.
• 56. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Job 38

• 1. Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
• 2. "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
• 3. Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
• 4. "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
• 5. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
• 6. On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-
• 7. while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
• 8. "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
• 9. when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,
• 10. when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
• 11. when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?
• 12. "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,
• 13. that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
• 14. The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.
• 15. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
• 16. "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
• 17. Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
• 18. Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
• 19. "What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?
• 20. Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
• 21. Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!
• 22. "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,
• 23. which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
• 24. What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
• 25. Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
• 26. to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it,
• 27. to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?
• 28. Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?
• 29. From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
• 30. when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?
• 31. "Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?
• 32. Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
• 33. Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?
• 34. "Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?
• 35. Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?
• 36. Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?
• 37. Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
• 38. when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?
• 39. "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
• 40. when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
• 41. Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

New International Version

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