SH’MOT (NAMES)

Parashat Shemot

Oppression in Egypt

1 Now these are the names of Bnei-Yisrael who came into Egypt with Jacob, each man with his family: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵ The souls that came out of the line of Jacob numbered 70 in all, while Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶ Then Joseph died, as did all his brothers and all that generation. ⁷ Yet Bnei-Yisrael were fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied and grew extremely numerous—so the land was filled with them.

⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “Look, the people of Bnei-Yisrael are too numerous and too powerful for us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, or else they will grow even more numerous, so that if war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and then escape from the land.”

¹¹ So they set slave masters over them to afflict them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Raamses as storage cities for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread. So the Egyptians dreaded the presence of Bnei-Yisrael. ¹³ They worked them harshly, ¹⁴ and made their lives bitter with hard labor with mortar and brick, doing all sorts of work in the fields. In all their labors they worked them with cruelty.

¹⁵ Moreover the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶ and said, “When you help the Hebrew women during childbirth, look at the sex. If it’s a son, then kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” ¹⁷ Yet the midwives feared God, so they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this—let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The midwives told Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are like animals,^[a] and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” ²⁰ So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, growing very numerous. ²¹ Because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.

²² But Pharaoh charged all his people saying, “You are to cast every son that is born into the river, but let every daughter live.”

Young Moses

2 Now a man from the house of Levi took as his wife a daughter of Levi. ² The woman conceived and gave birth to a son. Now when she saw that he was delightful, she hid him for three months. ^{[b] 3} But when she could no longer hide him, she took a basket of papyrus reeds, coated it with tar and pitch, put the child inside, and laid it in the reeds by the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood off at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe, while her maidens walked along by the riverside. When she saw the basket^[c] among the reeds, she sent her handmaiden to fetch it. ⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child—a baby boy crying! She had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”

⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse from the Hebrews to nurse the child for you?”

⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter told her, “Go!” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ After the boy grew older she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. So she named him Moses saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”^[d]

¹¹ Now it happened in those days, after Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. He noticed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. ^{[e] 12} So he looked around and when he saw that there was nobody, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ Then he went out the following day, and saw two Hebrew men fighting. So he said to the guilty one, “Why are you beating your companion?”

¹⁴ But the man answered, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you saying you’re going to kill me—just as you killed the Egyptian?”

Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “For sure the deed had become known.” ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses.

But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian,^[f] where he sat down by a well. ¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters who came and drew water. They filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ But shepherds came and drove them away, so Moses stood up, helped them and watered their flock.

¹⁸ When they came to Reuel their father, he said, “How come you’ve returned so soon today?”

¹⁹ So they told him, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds. He also drew water for us and watered the flock.”

²⁰ “Where is he then?” he said to his daughters. “Why did you leave the man behind? Invite him to have some food to eat!”

²¹ Moses was content to stay on with the man. Later he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. ²² She gave birth to a son and he named him Gershom, saying, “I have been an outsider^[g] in a foreign land.”

²³ Now it came about over the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. Bnei-Yisrael groaned because of their slavery. They cried out and their cry from slavery went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their sobbing and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ God saw Bnei-Yisrael, and He was concerned about them.

Angel of Adonai in a Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. So he led the flock to the farthest end of the wilderness, coming to the mountain of God, Horeb. ^{[h] 2} Then the angel of Adonai appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. So he looked and saw the bush burning with fire, yet it was not consumed. ³ Moses thought, “I will go now, and see this great sight. Why is the bush not burnt?”

⁴ When Adonai saw that he turned to look, He called to him out of the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

So he answered, “Hineni.”

⁵ Then He said, “Come no closer. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” So Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then Adonai said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their slave masters, for I know their pains. ⁸ So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, to bring them up out of that land into a good and large land, a land flowing with milk and honey, into the place of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ^{[i] 9} Now behold, the cry of Bnei-Yisrael has come to Me. Moreover I have seen the oppression that the Egyptians have inflicted on them. ¹⁰ Come now, I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people Bnei-Yisrael out from Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring Bnei-Yisrael out of Egypt?”

¹² So He said, “I will surely be with you. So that will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt: you will worship God on this mountain.”

¹³ But Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to Bnei-Yisrael and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His Name?’ What should I say to them?”

¹⁴ God answered Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.^[j]” Then He said, “You are to say to Bnei-Yisrael, ‘I AM’ has sent me to you.” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses: “You are to say to Bnei-Yisrael, Adonai, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and the Name by which I should be remembered from generation to generation.

¹⁶ “Go now, gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them: ‘Adonai, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—has appeared to me, saying, I have been paying close attention to you and have seen what is done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ So I promise I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’

¹⁸ “They will listen to your voice. So you will go, you along with the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and say to him: ‘Adonai, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to Adonai our God.’ ¹⁹ Nevertheless, I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, except by a mighty hand. ²⁰ So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders that I will do in the midst of it. After that, he will let you go.

²¹ “Then I shall grant these people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. So it will happen that when you go, you will not leave empty-handed. ²² Every woman is to ask her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing. You will put them on your sons and your daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Objections and Excuses

4 Then Moses said, “But look, they will not believe me or listen to my voice. They will say, ‘Adonai has not appeared to you.’”

² So Adonai said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he said.

³ Then He said, “Cast it on the ground.” When he cast it to the ground, it became a serpent, so Moses fled from before it. ⁴ Then Adonai said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.” So he put out his hand, laid hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand.

⁵ “This is so that they may believe Adonai, the God of their fathers—the God of Abra-ham, Isaac and Jacob—has appeared to you.”

⁶ Adonai also said to him, “Now put your hand within your cloak.” So he put his hand inside, and when he took it out, his hand had tza-ra’at—white as snow. ⁷ Then He said, “Put your hand back into your cloak.” So he put his hand back in, and when he took it out it was restored again as the rest of his skin.

⁸ Then He said, “If they do not believe you, or listen to the voice of the first sign, they will believe the message of the latter sign. ⁹ But if they do not believe even these two signs nor listen to your voice, you are to take the water of the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the ground.”

¹⁰ But Moses said to Adonai, “Adonai, I am not a man of words—not yesterday, nor the day before, nor since You have spoken to Your servant—because I have a slow mouth and a heavy tongue.”

¹¹ So Adonai said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes a man mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Adonai? ¹² Now go! I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.”

¹³ But he said, “Please, please, send it by another hand.”

¹⁴ Then the anger of Adonai was kindled against Moses, so He said, “In fact, Aaron the Levite is your brother. I know that he can speak well. Moreover, he is on his way to meet you! When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth and with his, and teach you what to do. ¹⁶ He will be your spokesman to the people, so that he may act as a mouthpiece for you, and it will be as if you were as God for him. ¹⁷ Now then, you must take this staff in your hand to do the signs.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ So Moses went, returned to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go, so I may return to my kinsmen who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive.”

Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹ Then Adonai said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men that sought your life are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and his sons, set them on a donkey and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹ Adonai said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put in your hand. Still, I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. ²² You are to say to Pharaoh, “This is what Adonai says: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn. ²³ So I have said to you, Let My son go, that he may serve Me, but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will slay your son, your firstborn.’”

²⁴ It happened along the way, at a lodging place, that Adonai met him and sought to kill him! ²⁵ But Zipporah took a flint, cut off the foreskin of her son, and threw it at his feet, saying, “You are surely a bridegroom of blood to me.” ²⁶ She said, “A bridegroom of blood” because of the circumcision. Then He let him alone.

²⁷ Now Adonai said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ Then Moses told Aaron all the words of Adonai with which He had been sent, along with all the signs that He had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of Bnei-Yisrael. ³⁰ Aaron spoke all the words that Adonai had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ So the people believed. When they heard that Adonai had remembered Bnei-Yisrael and had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshipped.

Pharaoh Will Not Let Israel Go

5 Afterward, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Adonai, God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast for Me in the wilderness.”

² But Pharaoh said, “Who is Adonai, that I should listen to His voice and let Israel go? I do not know Adonai, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

³ They answered, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so we may sacrifice to Adonai our God, or else He may strike us with pestilence or with the sword.”

⁴ But the king of Egypt said to them, “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, make the people break loose from their work? Go to your labors!” ⁵ Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now so numerous, yet you would have them rest from their labors?”

⁶ Then on the same day Pharaoh commanded the slave masters of the people and their foremen saying, ⁷ “You are not to give the people any more straw to make bricks, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ But impose on them the quota of bricks that they made previously; don’t reduce it. For they are lazy—that’s why they cry out saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let even heavier work be laid upon the men, so that they must labor, paying no attention to deceptive words.”

¹⁰ Then the slave masters of the people went out, along with their officers, and they spoke to the people saying: “This is what Pharaoh says: I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, for there will be no reduction of your work.” ¹² So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³ But the slave masters pressured, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily amount, just as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ Moreover the foremen of Bnei-Yisrael, whom Pharaoh’s slave masters had set over them, were beaten and asked, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks, both yesterday and today like before?”

¹⁵ The foremen of Bnei-Yisrael came and cried out to Pharaoh saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? ¹⁶ No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ and look, your servants are beaten. But it is your own people at fault.”

¹⁷ But he said, “Lazy! You’re lazy! That’s why you were saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Adonai.’ ¹⁸ So go now and work! No straw will be given to you—but you must deliver the quota of bricks.”

¹⁹ So the foremen of Bnei-Yisrael saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks from day to day.” ²⁰ Then they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them as they came from Pharaoh.

²¹ So they said to them, “May Adonai look on you and judge, because you have made us a stench in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants—putting a sword in their hand to kill us!”

²² So Moses returned to Adonai and said, “Adonai, why have You brought evil on these people? Is this why You sent me? ²³ Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he has brought evil on these people. You have not delivered Your people at all.”

How Will Pharaoh Listen?

6 Adonai said to Moses, “Now you will see what I am going to do to Pharaoh. By way of a strong hand he will let them go, and drive them out of his land.”

Israel Will Blossom Again

¹³ It will also come about in that day, a great shofar will be blown.^[a] Those perishing in the land of Assyria and the exiles in the land of Egypt will come and worship Adonai on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

A Cornerstone of Zion

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The Call of Jeremiah

1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the kohanim who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. ² The word of Adonai came to him during the days of King Josiah of Judah, son of Amon, in the thirteenth year of his reign. ³ It continued during the days of King Jehoiakim of Judah, son of Josiah, until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah of Judah, son of Josiah—until the exile from Jerusalem in the fifth month.

⁴ The word of Adonai came to me, saying:

⁹ Then Adonai stretched out His hand and touched my mouth and Adonai said to me,

¹¹ Moreover, the word of Adonai came to me, saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

I answered, “I see an almond branch.”

¹² Then Adonai said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching over^[a] My word to perform it.”

¹³ The word of Adonai came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?”

I replied, “I see a boiling pot that is tilting away from the north.”

¹⁴ Then Adonai said to me:

Judah Rebuked for Her Sins

2 Again the word of Adonai came to me, saying: ² “Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, thus says Adonai:

¹³ Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What is it then? I will pray in my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing praises with my spirit, and I will also sing praises with my mind. ¹⁶ Otherwise if you give thanks and praise in the spirit, how will one filling the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he has no idea what you’re saying? ¹⁷ For you certainly give thanks well, but the other person is not built up. ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ However, in Messiah’s community I would rather speak five words with my mind, so I may also instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰ Brothers and sisters, stop being children in your thinking—rather, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. ²¹ In the Prophets^[a] it is written,

²² Therefore tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers—but prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³ So if Messiah’s whole community comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and uninstructed or unbelieving people come in, won’t they say that you are crazy? ²⁴ But if all are prophesying and some unbelieving or ungifted person comes in, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all. ²⁵ The secrets of his heart become known, and so he will fall down on his face and worship God, declaring, “God really is among you!”^[b]

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Judah’s Remorse

27 When daybreak came, the ruling kohanim and elders of the people conspired against Yeshua to put Him to death. ² And they tied Him up, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate, the governor. ³ Then Judah, His betrayer, saw that Yeshua had been condemned. Feeling remorse, he brought the thirty silver pieces back to the ruling kohanim and elders, ⁴ saying, “I’ve sinned, betraying innocent blood!”

But they said, “What’s that to us? You see to it yourself!” ⁵ After tossing the silver into the Temple sanctuary, he left. Then he went off and hanged himself. ⁶ But the ruling kohanim took the silver pieces and said, “It is not permitted to put these in the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So after they conferred, they bought with them the potter’s field, as a cemetery for strangers. ⁸ For this reason that field has been called the “Field of Blood” to this day. ⁹ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty silver pieces, the price of Him on whom a price had been set by Bnei-Yisrael; ¹⁰ and they gave them for the potter’s field, just as Adonai arranged for me.”^[a]

“Kill the King!”

¹¹ Now Yeshua stood before the governor. The governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

“You say so,” Yeshua said. ¹² And while He was accused by the ruling kohanim and elders, He did not answer.

¹³ Then Pilate said to Him, “Don’t You hear how many things they testify against you?” ¹⁴ Yeshua did not answer, not even one word, so the governor was greatly amazed.

¹⁵ Now during the feast, the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner, anyone they wanted. ¹⁶ At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Yeshua Bar-Abba. ¹⁷ So when they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Which one do you want me to release for you? Yeshua who is Bar-Abba, or Yeshua who is called Messiah?” ^{[b] 18} For he knew that they had handed Him over out of envy.

¹⁹ While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Don’t have anything to do with that righteous Man, for today I’ve suffered many things in a dream because of Him.”

²⁰ Now the ruling kohanim and elders persuaded the crowds that they should ask for Bar-Abba and destroy Yeshua. ²¹ But the governor responded, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?”

And they said, “Bar-Abba!”

²² Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Yeshua, who is called Messiah?”

“Execute Him!” all of them say.

²³ But Pilate said, “Why? What evil has He done?”

But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Let Him be executed!”

²⁴ When Pilate saw he was accomplishing nothing, but instead a riot was starting, he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this blood,”^[c] he said. “You see to it yourselves!”

²⁵ All the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children!”^[d]

²⁶ Then he released to them Bar-Abba. And after he had Yeshua scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Nailed to a Stake

²⁷ Then the governor’s soldiers took Yeshua into the Praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around Him. ²⁸ They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe around Him. ²⁹ And after braiding a crown of thorns, they placed it on His head and put a staff in His right hand. And falling on their knees before Him, they mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ They spat on Him, and they took the staff and beat Him over and over on the head. ³¹ When they finished mocking Him, they stripped the robe off Him and put His own clothes back on Him. And they led Him away to crucify Him.

³² As they came out, they found a man from Cyrene, Simon by name. They forced him into service, to carry Yeshua’s cross-beam. ^{[e] 33} And when they came to a place called Golgotha (that is to say, Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered Him wine mixed with gall to drink;^[f] but after tasting, He was unwilling to drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified Him, they divided His clothing among themselves by casting lots. ^{[g] 36} And they sat down and kept guard over Him there. ³⁷ Over His head they put the charge against Him, which read: “THIS IS YESHUA, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁸ Then two outlaws were executed with Him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ Those passing by were jeering at Him,^[h] shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If you are Ben-Elohim, come down from the stake!”

⁴¹ Likewise the ruling kohanim, along with the Torah scholars and elders, were also mocking Him. ⁴² “He saved others,” they were saying, “but He can’t save Himself? He’s the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the stake, and we’ll believe in Him! ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He wants Him.^[i] For He said, ‘I am Ben-Elohim.’” ⁴⁴ Even the outlaws who were executed with Him were ridiculing Him in the same way.^[j]

Yeshua Lays Down His Life

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour, darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. ^{[k] 46} About the ninth hour Yeshua cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”^[l] that is, “My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?”

⁴⁷ When some of those standing there heard it, they began saying, “This Man is calling for Elijah.” ⁴⁸ Right away one of them ran and took a sponge. He filled it with sour wine and put it on a stick, and was offering it to Yeshua to drink. ^{[m] 49} But the rest were saying, “Leave Him alone! Let’s see if Elijah comes to save Him.” ⁵⁰ And Yeshua cried out again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit.

⁵¹ And behold, the curtain^[n] of the Temple was split in two, from top to bottom. And the earth quaked and rocks were split apart. ⁵² And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the kedoshim who were sleeping were raised to life. ⁵³ And coming forth out of the tombs after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

⁵⁴ Now the centurion, and those with him keeping guard over Yeshua, when they saw the earthquake and what was happening, they became terribly frightened and said, “This really was the Son of God!”

The Tomb Is Sealed

⁵⁵ Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Yeshua from the Galilee, serving Him. ⁵⁶ Among them were Miriam from Magdala, Miriam the mother of Jacob and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

⁵⁷ Now when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had also become a disciple of Yeshua. ⁵⁸ This man went to Pilate and asked for Yeshua’s body. Then Pilate ordered it to be given up. ⁵⁹ And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. ⁶⁰ And he laid it in his own new tomb,^[o] which he had cut in the rock. Then he rolled a large stone up to the door of the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ Now Miriam from Magdala was there, and the other Miriam, sitting opposite the tomb.

Guarding the Tomb

⁶² Now on the next day, which is after the preparation, the ruling kohanim and Pharisees were gathered before Pilate. ⁶³ “Sir,” they said, “we remember how that deceiver said while He was still alive, ‘After three days I’m to be raised.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, so His disciples do not come and steal Him away. They will tell the people, ‘He is risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first!”

⁶⁵ “You have a guard,” Pilate said to them. “Go, make it as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone along with the soldiers of the guard.

The Son Is Risen!

28 Now after Shabbat, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Miriam of Magdala and the other Miriam came to look at the tomb. ² And suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of Adonai descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning,^[p] and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ And those keeping watch were shaken for fear of him and became like dead men.

⁵ But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know you are looking for Yeshua who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He^[q] was lying. ⁷ Go quickly now and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead. And behold, He’s going before you to the Galilee. There you will see Him. See, I have told you!” ⁸ They quickly left the tomb, with fear yet with great joy, and ran to bring news to His disciples.

The Good News Cannot Be Hidden

⁹ And behold, Yeshua met them. “Shalom!” He said. They drew near, grasped his feet, and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ “Don’t be afraid,” Yeshua said to them. “Go tell My brothers to head for the Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

¹¹ Now while they were going, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the ruling kohanim all that had happened. ¹² And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of silver to the soldiers, ¹³ saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we were sleeping.’ ¹⁴ And if this is heard by the governor, we’ll appease him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story was spread among the Judeans to this day.

Authority to Make Disciples Everywhere

¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to the Galilee, to the mountain Yeshua had designated. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped; but some wavered. ¹⁸ And Yeshua came up to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ^{[r] 19} Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And remember! I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”