Put Not Your Trust in Princes

My Refuge and My Fortress

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.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the ^(E)miracles that I have put in your power. But ^(F)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^(G)Israel is my ^(H)firstborn son, ²³ and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I ^(I)will kill your firstborn son.’”

²⁴ At a lodging place on the way ^(J)the Lord met him and ^(K)sought to put him to death. ²⁵ Then ^(L)Zipporah took a ^(M)flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses'^[a] feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” ²⁶ So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness ^(N)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the ^(O)mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸ And Moses ^(P)told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all ^(Q)the signs that he had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron ^(R)went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. ^30 (S)Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ And the people ^(T)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had ^(U)visited the people of Israel and that he had ^(V)seen their affliction, ^(W)they bowed their heads and worshiped.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now ^(A)the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes ^(B)grumbled, saying, ^(C)“This man receives sinners and ^(D)eats with them.”

³ So he told them this parable: ^4 (E)“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, ^(F)if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine ^(G)in the open country, and ^(H)go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, ^(I)he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for ^(J)I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who ^(K)repents than over ninety-nine ^(L)righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸ “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,^[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before ^(M)the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”