Parsha Bo

Exodus (Shemot) 10.1-11 (Parsha Name, Aliyah 1)

Exo 10:1  And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Go in unto Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these My signs in the midst of them;
Exo 10:2  and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what I have wrought upon Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them; that ye may know that I am the LORD.’
Exo 10:3  And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him: ‘Thus saith the LORD, the God of the Hebrews: How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before Me? let My people go, that they may serve Me.
Exo 10:4  Else, if thou refuse to let My people go, behold, to-morrow will I bring locusts into thy border;
Exo 10:5  and they shall cover the face of the earth, that one shall not be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field;
Exo 10:6  and thy houses shall be filled, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither thy fathers nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day.’ And he turned, and went out from Pharaoh.
Exo 10:7  And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him: ‘How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God, knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?’
Exo 10:8  And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh; and he said unto them: ‘Go, serve the LORD your God; but who are they that shall go?’
Exo 10:9  And Moses said: ‘We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds we will go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.’
Exo 10:10  And he said unto them: ‘So be the LORD with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones; see ye that evil is before your face.
Exo 10:11  Not so; go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that is what ye desire.’ And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

Exodus (Shemot) 10.12-23 (Parsha Bo, Aliyah 2)

Exo 10:12  And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Stretch out thy hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.’
Exo 10:13  And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
Exo 10:14  And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt; very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
Exo 10:15  For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
Exo 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.
Exo 10:17  Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your God, that He may take away from me this death only.’
Exo 10:18  And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD.
Exo 10:19  And the LORD turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea; there remained not one locust in all the border of Egypt.
Exo 10:20  But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.

Exo 10:21  And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.’
Exo 10:22  And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days;
Exo 10:23  they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

Exodus (Shemot) 10.24-29 (Parsha Bo, Aliyah 3)

Exo 10:24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said: ‘Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed; let your little ones also go with you.’
Exo 10:25 And Moses said: ‘Thou must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt-offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God.
Exo 10:26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither.’
Exo 10:27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.
Exo 10:28 And Pharaoh said unto him: ‘Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in the day thou seest my face thou shalt die.’
Exo 10:29 And Moses said: ‘Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face again no more.’

Exodus (Shemot) 11.1-3 (Parsha Bo, Aliyah 3)

Exo 11:1  And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence; when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.
Exo 11:2  Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.’
Exo 11:3  And the LORD gave the people favour 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.

Exodus (Shemot) 11.4-10 (Parsha Bo, Aliyah 4)

Exo 11:4  And Moses said: ‘Thus saith the LORD: About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt;
Exo 11:5  and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of cattle.
Exo 11:6  And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there hath been none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
Exo 11:7  But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog whet his tongue, against man or beast; that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
Exo 11:8  And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down unto me, saying: Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee; and after that I will go out.’ And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.
Exo 11:9  And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Pharaoh will not hearken unto you; that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.’
Exo 11:10  And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

Exodus (Shemot) 12.1-20 (Parsha Bo, Aliyah 4)

Exo 12:1  And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying:
Exo 12:2  ‘This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Exo 12:3  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying: In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household;
Exo 12:4  and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he and his neighbour next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls; according to every man’s eating ye shall make your count for the lamb.
Exo 12:5  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats;
Exo 12:6  and ye shall keep it unto the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at dusk.
Exo 12:7  And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and on the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it.
Exo 12:8  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Exo 12:9  Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof.
Exo 12:10  And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
Exo 12:11  And thus shall ye eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste – it is the LORD’S passover.
Exo 12:12  For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.
Exo 12:13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
Exo 12:14  And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
Exo 12:15  Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; howbeit the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
Exo 12:16  And in the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you.
Exo 12:17  And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore shall ye observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever.
Exo 12:18  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
Exo 12:19  Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or one that is born in the land.
Exo 12:20  Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.’

Exodus (Shemot) 12.21-28 (Parsha Bo, Aliyah 5)

Exo 12:21  Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them: ‘Draw out, and take you lambs according to your families, and kill the passover lamb.
Exo 12:22  And ye shall 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 shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
Exo 12:23  For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
Exo 12:24  And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
Exo 12:25  And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.
Exo 12:26  And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you: What mean ye by this service?
Exo 12:27  that ye shall say: It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, for that He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.’ And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
Exo 12:28  And the children of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

Exodus (Shemot) 12.29-51 (Parsha Bo, Aliyah 6)

Exo 12:29  And it came to pass at midnight, that the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first-born of cattle.
Exo 12:30  And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and 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.
Exo 12:31  And he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said: ‘Rise up, get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.
Exo 12:32  Take both your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.’

Exo 12:33  And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said: ‘We are all dead men.’
Exo 12:34  And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
Exo 12:35  And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment.
Exo 12:36  And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. And they despoiled the Egyptians.
Exo 12:37  And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, beside children.
Exo 12:38  And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.
Exo 12:39  And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.
Exo 12:40  Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.
Exo 12:41  And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the host of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
Exo 12:42  It was a night of watching unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; this same night is a night of watching unto the LORD for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

Exo 12:43  And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron: ‘This is the ordinance of the passover: there shall no alien eat thereof;
Exo 12:44  but every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
Exo 12:45  A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat thereof.
Exo 12:46  In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
Exo 12:47  All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
Exo 12:48  And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
Exo 12:49  One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.’
Exo 12:50  Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
Exo 12:51  And it came to pass the selfsame day that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

Exodus (Shemot) 13.1-16 (Parsha Bo, Aliyah 7)

Exo 13:1  And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Exo 13:2  ‘Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, it is Mine.’

Exo 13:3  And Moses said unto the people: ‘Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place; there shall no leavened bread be eaten.
Exo 13:4  This day ye go forth in the month Abib.
Exo 13:5  And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which He swore unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.
Exo 13:6  Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.
Exo 13:7  Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee, in all thy borders.
Exo 13:8  And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying: It is because of that which the LORD did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
Exo 13:9  And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
Exo 13:10  Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
Exo 13:11  And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, as He swore unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee,
Exo 13:12  that thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that openeth the womb; every firstling that is a male, which thou hast coming of a beast, shall be the LORD’S.
Exo 13:13  And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break its neck; and all the first-born of man among thy sons shalt thou redeem.
Exo 13:14  And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying: What is this? that thou shalt say unto him: By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage;
Exo 13:15  and it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast; therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem.
Exo 13:16  And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes; for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.’

Jeremiah 46.13 – 28 (Parsha Bo, Haftarah)

Jer 46:13  The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
Jer 46:14  “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol; proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes; say, ‘Stand ready and be prepared, for the sword shall devour around you.’
Jer 46:15  Why are your mighty ones face down? They do not stand because the LORD thrust them down.
Jer 46:16  He made many stumble, and they fell, and they said one to another, ‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people and to the land of our birth, because of the sword of the oppressor.’
Jer 46:17  Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’
Jer 46:18  “As I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea, shall one come.
Jer 46:19  Prepare yourselves baggage for exile, O inhabitants of Egypt! For Memphis shall become a waste, a ruin, without inhabitant.
Jer 46:20  “A beautiful heifer is Egypt, but a biting fly from the north has come upon her.
Jer 46:21  Even her hired soldiers in her midst are like fattened calves; yes, they have turned and fled together; they did not stand, for the day of their calamity has come upon them, the time of their punishment.
Jer 46:22  “She makes a sound like a serpent gliding away; for her enemies march in force and come against her with axes like those who fell trees.
Jer 46:23  They shall cut down her forest, declares the LORD, though it is impenetrable, because they are more numerous than locusts; they are without number.
Jer 46:24  The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame; she shall be delivered into the hand of a people from the north.”
Jer 46:25  The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him.
Jer 46:26  I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, declares the LORD.
Jer 46:27  “But fear not, O Jacob my servant, nor be dismayed, O Israel, for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid.
Jer 46:28  Fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

Romans 9.14-29 (Parsha Bo, Renewed Covenant)

Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
Rom 9:15  For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Rom 9:16  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
Rom 9:18  So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
Rom 9:19  You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”
Rom 9:20  But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
Rom 9:21  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
Rom 9:22  What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
Rom 9:23  in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
Rom 9:24  even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
Rom 9:25  As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
Rom 9:26  “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”
Rom 9:27  And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,
Rom 9:28  for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.”
Rom 9:29  And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.”