The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

¹⁶ Go and ^(A)gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, ^(B)“I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, ¹⁷ and I promise that ^(C)I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land ^(D)flowing with milk and honey.”’ ¹⁸ And ^(E)they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel ^(F)shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has ^(G)met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt ^(H)will not let you go unless compelled ^(I)by a mighty hand.^{[a] 20} So ^(J)I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with ^(K)all the wonders that I will do in it; ^(L)after that he will let you go. ²¹ And ^(M)I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, ²² but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for ^(N)silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So ^(O)you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Moses went back to ^(A)Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” ¹⁹ And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for ^(B)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took ^(C)his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(D)the staff of God in his hand.

Submission to Authority

^13 (A)Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,^[a] whether it be to the emperor^[b] as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him ^(B)to punish those who do evil and ^(C)to praise those who do good. ¹⁵ For this is the will of God, ^(D)that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ^16 (E)Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but ^(F)living as servants^[c] of God. ^17 (G)Honor everyone. ^(H)Love the brotherhood. ^(I)Fear God. Honor the emperor.