And when Jesus finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the borders of Judea beyond the Jordan.

And great crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

And some Pharisees came to Him,  ¹testing Him and saying, Is it lawful for a man to  ²divorce his wife for any cause?

And He answered and said, Have you not read that  ¹He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

And said, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall be one flesh”?

So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has yoked together, let man not separate.

They said to Him, Why then did Moses  ¹command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?

He said to them, Moses, because of your hardness of heart, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the  ¹beginning it has not been so.

But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for  ¹fornication, and marries another, commits adultery;  ²and he who marries her who has been divorced commits adultery.

His disciples said to Him, If the case of the man with his wife is  ¹like this, it is not profitable to marry.

And He said to them,  ¹Not all men can  ²accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.

For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs  ¹who made themselves eunuchs because of the  ²kingdom of the heavens. He who can accept it, let him accept it.

Then little children were brought to Him that He might lay His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.

But Jesus said, Allow the little children and do not prevent them from coming to Me, for of  ¹such is the kingdom of the heavens.

And after He laid His hands on them, He went on from there.

Then Jehovah said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and present yourself before Pharaoh as he is going out to the water, and say to him, Thus says Jehovah, Let My people go that they may serve Me.

For if you will not let My people go, then I will at once send swarms of  ¹flies against you and against your servants and against your people and against your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, as well as the ground on which they are.

But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are staying, so that no swarms of flies will be there, so that you may know that I am Jehovah in the midst of the land.

And I will put a  ¹redemption between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall occur.

And Jehovah did so; and heavy swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses, and throughout the land of Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.

And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron and said, Go, sacrifice to your God in the  ¹land.

And Moses said, It would not be right to do so, for we will sacrifice to Jehovah our God what is an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?

We must go a three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to Jehovah our God just as He commands us.

And Pharaoh said, I will let you go that you may sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Make entreaty for me.

And Moses said, I am now going out from you, and I will entreat Jehovah that the swarms of flies would depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully anymore by not letting the people go to sacrifice to Jehovah.

So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated Jehovah.

And Jehovah did according to the word of Moses, and He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained.

However Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, and he did not let the people go.

Then Jehovah said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, and speak to him, Thus says Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go that they may serve Me.

For if you refuse to let them go and still retain them,

Then the hand of Jehovah is going to be on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very severe  ¹pestilence.

And Jehovah will make a  ¹distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.

And Jehovah set an appointed time, saying, Tomorrow Jehovah will do this thing in the land.

And Jehovah did this thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel not one died.

And Pharaoh sent to inquire, and indeed there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he did not let the people go.

Then Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Take handfuls of  ¹ashes from a furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

And it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and will become boils breaking out with sores on man and on beast throughout all the land of Egypt.

So they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it toward heaven, and it became boils breaking forth with sores on man and on beast.

And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians.

And Jehovah  ¹hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not listen to them, just as Jehovah had spoken to Moses.

Then Jehovah said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and present yourself before Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus says Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go that they may serve Me.

For this time I am going to send all My plagues against  ¹you and on your servants and on your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.

For if by now I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would have been cut off from the earth.

But indeed for this cause I have  ¹made you stand, to show you My power and to have My name proclaimed throughout all the earth.

You are still exalting yourself against My people by not letting them go.

Tomorrow about this time I am going to cause very heavy  ¹hail to fall, such as has never occurred in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now.

Now therefore send men and secure your livestock and all that you have in the field; every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home when the hail comes down shall die.

He who feared the word of Jehovah among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses.

But he who did not pay attention to the word of Jehovah left his servants and his livestock in the field.

And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven that there may be hail throughout all the land of Egypt, upon man and upon beast and upon all the vegetation of the field in the land of Egypt.

And Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven; and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire came down on the earth, and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

So there was very heavy hail with fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, such as had not occurred in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

And the hail struck everything that was in the field, both man and beast, throughout all the land of Egypt; and the hail struck all the vegetation of the field and shattered every tree of the field.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

And Pharaoh sent a messenger and called for Moses and Aaron; and he said to them, I have sinned this time; Jehovah is the righteous One, and I and my people are in the wrong.

Entreat Jehovah, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail; and  ¹I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.

And Moses said to him, As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to Jehovah: The thunder will cease, and there will not be any more hail, that you may know that the earth is Jehovah's.

But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear Jehovah God.

(Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bud.

But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they had not come up.)

And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to Jehovah; and the thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the earth.

But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

So Pharaoh's heart hardened, and he did not let the children of Israel go, just as Jehovah had spoken through Moses.

Then Jehovah said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants that I may show these signs of Mine in the midst of them,

And that you may recount in the hearing of your son and your grandson how I made a mockery of Egypt and recount My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am Jehovah.

And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, Thus says Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go that they may serve Me.

For if you refuse to let My people go, then tomorrow I am going to bring swarming locusts into your territory,

And they will cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land; and they will eat the rest of what has escaped — what is left to you from the hail — and will eat up every tree of yours that is sprouting in the field.

And your houses will be filled with them, as well as the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians; something that neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen since the day that they came upon the earth until this day. Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

And Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go that they may serve Jehovah their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is destroyed?

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them,  ¹Go, serve Jehovah your God. But who exactly are going?

And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old; we will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds, for we must hold Jehovah's feast.

And he said to them, Let Jehovah indeed be with you if I ever let you go with your little ones as well. See here,  ¹you are up to some evil.

No! Go now, but the men only, and serve Jehovah, since that is what you are requesting. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

Then Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the swarming locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt and eat all the vegetation of the land, all that the hail has left.

So Moses stretched forth his staff over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah drove an east  ¹wind upon the land all that day and all night; when it was morning, the east wind had brought the swarming locusts.

And the swarming locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled in all the territory of Egypt in great mass. Before them there had never been so many swarming locusts as they, nor after them will there ever be so many.

And they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened. And they ate all the vegetation of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left, and nothing green remained on the trees or among the vegetation of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh hurriedly called for Moses and Aaron and said, I have sinned against Jehovah your God and against you.

Now therefore, please forgive my sin just this once, and entreat Jehovah your God that He would only remove this death from me.

And he went out from Pharaoh and entreated Jehovah.

And Jehovah changed the wind into a very strong west wind, and it took up the swarming locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not one locust was left in all the territory of Egypt.

But Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.

Then Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven that there may be  ¹darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness that can be felt.

So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout all the land of Egypt for three days.

They could not see one another, nor did anyone rise up from his place for three days, but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

And Pharaoh called Moses and said,  ¹Go, serve Jehovah; only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Your little ones may also go with you.

And Moses said, You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings so that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God.

So our cattle also must go with us; not a hoof must be left behind, for we must take some of them to serve Jehovah our God, and we do not know with what we must serve Jehovah until we go there.

But Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go.

And Pharaoh said to him, Get away from me. Be sure that you do not see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.

And Moses said, You have spoken correctly. I will never again see your face.