Weekly Torah Readings: Bo
(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)
Bo
10.1. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Come in to Pharaoh! For I have strengthened his heart and the heart of his servants, so I could show these signs of Mine before him, 2. and so you could tell in the ears of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done in Egypt and My signs which I have done among them, so you will know how that I AM the LORD*.”
10:3. And Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the LORD* God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Send My people away! So they can serve Me! 4. Otherwise, if you refuse to send My people away, behold, tomorrow I shall bring the locusts into your border, 5. and they will cover the face of the earth, so no one will be able to see the earth, and they will eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail and will eat every tree of the field that grows for you. 6. And they will fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth to this day.’” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
10:7. And Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so they can serve the LORD* their God. Do you not know yet that Egypt is destroyed?” 8. And Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh and he said to them, “Go! Serve the LORD* your God, but who will go?” 9. And Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and we will go with our herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD*.” 10. And he said to them, “Let the LORD* be so with you, as I shall send you and your little ones out. See to it, for evil is before you. 11. Not so! Now only men can go and serve the LORD*, for that you did desire.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
10:12. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so they can come up upon the land of Egypt and eat every herb of the land, all that the hail has left.” (Rev. 9:3)
Locusts
10:13. (8th) And Moses stretched forth his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD* brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
10:14. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested in all the borders of Egypt: they were very grievous. There were no such locusts as they before they came, neither after them will be such. 15. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left, and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. (Rev. 9:13)
10:16. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste and he said, “I have sinned against the LORD* your God and against you. 17. Now please forgive my sin only this once and plead with the LORD* your God, so He may only take this death away from me.” 18. And he went out from Pharaoh and pled with the LORD*. 19. And the LORD* turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts and cast them into the Reed Sea. There did not remain one locust in all the border of Egypt. 20. But the LORD* strengthened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not send out the children of Israel.
10:21. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness that can be felt.” (Rev. 16:10)
Darkness
10:22. (9th) And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23. They did not see one another, nor could anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
10:24. And Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go! Serve the LORD*! Only let your flocks and your herds stay, let your little ones also go with you.” 25. And Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, so we can sacrifice to the LORD* our God. 26. Our cattle will also go with us. There will not be a hoof left behind, for we must take it to serve the LORD* our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the LORD*, until we come there.” 27. But the LORD* strengthened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not send them out. 28. And Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Take heed for yourself! You will not see my face again, for on the day you see my face you will die.” 29. And Moses said, “You have spoken well, I shall not again see your face in all the earth.
11.1. And the LORD* said to Moses, “I shall still bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterwards he will let you go from here. When he does send you out, he will surely thrust you out from here altogether.”
The People Gather Egyptian Wealth
11:2. “Speak now in the ears of the people, let each man ask from his neighbor, and each woman from her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.” (Gen. 15:14,15, Acts 7:6,7) 3. And the LORD* gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.
11:4. And Moses said, “Thus says the LORD*, About midnight I shall go out into the midst of Egypt. 5. And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill, and all the firstborn of beasts. 6. And there will be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor will there be like it any more. 7. But against any of the children of Israel not one dog will move his tongue against man or beast, so you will know how the LORD* puts a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. 8. And all your servants will come down to me, and bow themselves down to me saying, ‘You and all the people who follow you, Get out!’ Then after that I shall go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.
11:9. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you so My wonders can be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10. And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD* strengthened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not send the children of Israel out of his land.
Passover Commanded
12.1. And the LORD* spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, 2. “This month will be the beginning of months for you: it will be the first month of the year for you. 3. Speak to the whole congregation of Israel saying, On the tenth day of this month they will take for themselves – each man – a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. 4. And if the household is too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of people, each man according to how much he eats will make your count for the lamb. 5. Your lamb will be without blemish, a male of the first year. You will take it out from the sheep or from the goats. 6. And you will keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will kill it at twilight. 7. And they will take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, in which they will eat it. 8. And they will eat the flesh, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread in that night. They will eat it with bitter herbs. 9. Do not eat it raw, or sodden at all with water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs and with its entrails. 10. And do not let anything of it remain until the morning. And that which remains of it until the morning you will burn with fire. 11. And thus you will eat it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand. And you will eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s* Passover. 12. For I shall pass through the land of Egypt this night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and I shall execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I AM the LORD*! 13. And the blood will be as a token for you upon the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I shall pass over you and the plague will not be upon you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”
Feast of Unleavened Bread Commanded
12:14. “And this day will be a memorial for you and you will keep it a feast to the LORD* throughout your generations. You will keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. 15. Seven days you will eat unleavened bread. Even the first day you will put away leaven out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul will be cut off from Israel. 16. And on the first day there will be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you; no manner of work will be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. 17. And you will observe matsot, unleavened bread, for in this selfsame day I have brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you will observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. 18. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at dusk, you will eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19. Seven days no leaven will be found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, even that soul will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or born in the land. 20. You will eat nothing leavened. In all your dwellings you will eat unleavened bread.”
12:21. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Choose and take for yourselves a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22. And you will take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin, and none of you will go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23. For the LORD* will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when He sees the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the LORD* will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. 24. And you will observe this thing for an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25. And it will be, when you come to the land which the LORD* will give you, according as He has promised, that you will keep this service. 26. And it will be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27. That you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s* Passover, Who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshipped. 28. And the children of Israel went away and did so, as the LORD* had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
Firstborn, Last of the Plagues
12:29. (10th) And it was at midnight that the LORD* struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of animals. 30. And Pharaoh got up in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. 31. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up! Get out from among my people! Both you and the children of Israel, go! Serve the LORD*, as you have said. 32. Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone. And bless me also.” 33. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, so they would send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead men.” 34. And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. 35. And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and they asked from the Egyptians jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothes. 36. And the LORD* gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted their requests, such things as they required. And they emptied Egypt.
12:37. And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. 38. And a mixed multitude also went up with them, and flocks and herds, very many cattle. 39. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, nor had they prepared any food for themselves.
12:40. Now the stay of the children of Israel who dwelled in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. 41. And it was at the end of the four hundred thirty years, even the selfsame day, it was that all the hosts of the LORD* went out from the land of Egypt. 42. It is a night to be guarded, never forgotten, to the LORD* for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of the LORD* to be observed by all the children of Israel in their generations.
Ordinance of the Passover
12:43. And the LORD* said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No stranger will eat of it. 44. But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he will eat of it. 45. Aforeigner and a hired servant will not eat of it. 46. It will be eaten in one house, you will not carry out any of the flesh abroad out of the house, nor will you break a bone of it. (John 19:33) 47. All the congregation of Israel will keep it. 48. And when a stranger sojourns with you and keeps the Passover to the LORD*, let all his males be circumcised and then let him come near and keep it, and he will be as one that is born in the land, for no uncircumcised person will eat of it. 49. One Torah (Teaching) will be for the one that is home born and for the stranger who lives among you.” 50. So all the children of Israel did this, as the LORD* commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. 51. And it happened the selfsame day, the LORD* did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.
Deliverance Proclaimed
13.1. And the LORD* spoke to Moses saying, 2. “Sanctify to Me all the firstborn, whoever opens the womb among the children of Israel, of man and of beast. It is Mine.” (Luke 2:22,23)
13:3. And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day on which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength of hand the LORD* brought you out from this place. There will not be eaten any leavened bread. 4. This day in the month Aviv you came out. 5. And it will be when the LORD* brings you into the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you will keep this service in this month. 6. Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day will be a feast to the LORD*. 7. Unleavened bread will be eaten seven days, and no leavened bread will be seen with you, neither will there be leaven seen with you in all your quarters. 8. And you will show your son on that day saying, ‘This is done because of what the LORD* did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
9. And it will be for a sign to you upon your hand and for a memorial between your eyes that the LORD’s* Torah (Teaching) may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand the LORD* has brought you out of Egypt. 10. You will therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.”
Firstborn are the LORD’s*
13:11. “And it will be when the LORD* brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and to your fathers and will give it to you, 12. that you will set apart to the LORD* all that opens the womb, and every firstling that comes of an animal which you have; the males will be the LORD’s*. 13. And every firstling of a donkey you will redeem with a lamb, and if you will not redeem it, then you will break its neck, and you will redeem all the firstborn of man among your children. 14. And it will be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you will say to him, By strength of hand the LORD* brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. 15. And it was, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD* slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD* all that opens the womb, being males, but I redeem all the firstborn of my children. 16. And it will be for a token upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes for by strength of hand the LORD* brought us forth out of Egypt.’”
Next week’s Torah readings: B’shalah