Consecration of the Firstborn

13 The Lord said to Moses, ^2 (A)“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

³ Then Moses said to the people, ^(B)“Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, ^(C)for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. ^(D)No leavened bread shall be eaten.

¹¹ “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, ^(A)as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, ^12 (B)you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. ^13 (C)Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every ^(D)firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. ^14 (E)And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ^(F)‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of ^(G)slavery. ¹⁵ For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the ^(H)Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but ^(I)all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

^12 (A)Put on then, as ^(B)God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, ^(C)compassionate hearts, ^(D)kindness, ^(E)humility, meekness, and patience, ^13 (F)bearing with one another and, ^(G)if one has a complaint against another, ^(H)forgiving each other; ^(I)as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on ^(J)love, which ^(K)binds everything together in ^(L)perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let ^(M)the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called ^(N)in one body. And ^(O)be thankful. ¹⁶ Let ^(P)the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, ^(Q)singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ^(R)with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And ^(S)whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, ^(T)giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

²² And ^(A)when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem ^(B)to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in ^(C)the Law of the Lord, ^(D)“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in ^(E)the Law of the Lord, ^(F)“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” ²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was ^(G)righteous and ^(H)devout, ^(I)waiting for ^(J)the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^(K)see death before he had seen ^(L)the Lord's Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when ^(M)the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and ^(N)blessed God and said,

³³ And ^(W)his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed ^(X)for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign ^(Y)that is opposed ³⁵ (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶ And there was ^(Z)a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷ and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.^[b] She did not depart from the temple, ^(AA)worshiping with ^(AB)fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸ And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were ^(AC)waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The Return to Nazareth

³⁹ And when they had performed everything according to ^(AD)the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of ^(AE)Nazareth. ^40 (AF)And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.