New International Version

Annual Bible reading: 63 of 365 days

• Exodus 14
• 1. Then the LORD said to Moses,
• 2. "Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.
• 3. Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.'
• 4. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." So the Israelites did this.
• 5. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, "What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!"
• 6. So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him.
• 7. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.
• 8. The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly.
• 9. The Egyptians-all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops-pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.
• 10. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD.
• 11. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
• 12. Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"
• 13. Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.
• 14. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
• 15. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.
• 16. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
• 17. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
• 18. The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."
• 19. Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them,
• 20. coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
• 21. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,
• 22. and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
• 23. The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea.
• 24. During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.
• 25. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."
• 26. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen."
• 27. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea.
• 28. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen-the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
• 29. But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
• 30. That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.
• 31. And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
• Luke 18
• 1. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
• 2. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.
• 3. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
• 4. "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men,
• 5. yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'"
• 6. And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.
• 7. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
• 8. I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
• 9. To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:
• 10. "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
• 11. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector.
• 12. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
• 13. "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
• 14. "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
• 15. People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them.
• 16. But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
• 17. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
• 18. A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
• 19. "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.
• 20. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'"
• 21. "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
• 22. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
• 23. When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
• 24. Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!
• 25. Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
• 26. Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"
• 27. Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
• 28. Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"
• 29. "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
• 30. will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
• 31. Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
• 32. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.
• 33. On the third day he will rise again."
• 34. The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
• 35. As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.
• 36. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening.
• 37. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
• 38. He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
• 39. Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
• 40. Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him,
• 41. "What do you want me to do for you?Lord, I want to see," he replied.
• 42. Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you."
• 43. Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
• Job 33
• 1. "But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say.
• 2. I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue.
• 3. My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know.
• 4. The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
• 5. Answer me then, if you can; prepare yourself and confront me.
• 6. I am just like you before God; I too have been taken from clay.
• 7. No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy upon you.
• 8. "But you have said in my hearing- I heard the very words-
• 9. 'I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt.
• 10. Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.
• 11. He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.'
• 12. "But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than man.
• 13. Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words?
• 14. For God does speak-now one way, now another- though man may not perceive it.
• 15. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds,
• 16. he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings,
• 17. to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,
• 18. to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.
• 19. Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones,
• 20. so that his very being finds food repulsive and his soul loathes the choicest meal.
• 21. His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.
• 22. His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
• 23. "Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
• 24. to be gracious to him and say, 'Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him'-
• 25. then his flesh is renewed like a child's; it is restored as in the days of his youth.
• 26. He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state.
• 27. Then he comes to men and says, 'I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved.
• 28. He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.'
• 29. "God does all these things to a man- twice, even three times-
• 30. to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him.
• 31. "Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.
• 32. If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want you to be cleared.
• 33. But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."

New International Version