Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

All Men Exhorted to Praise God.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving.

²⁸ Now it happened on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ that He said, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything that I say to you.” ³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Look, I am ^[a]unskilled and inept in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me and pay attention to what I say?”

“I Will Stretch Out My Hand”

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now hear this: I make you as God to Pharaoh [to declare My will and purpose to him]; and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. ² You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go out of his land. ³ And I will make Pharaoh’s heart hard, and multiply My signs and My wonders (miracles) in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I shall lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts [like a defensive army, tribe by tribe], My people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment (the plagues). ⁵ The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” ⁶ And Moses and Aaron did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷ Now Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Serpent

⁸ Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Work a miracle [to prove your authority],’ then you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, so that it may become a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and did just as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh called for the wise men [skilled in magic and omens] and the sorcerers [skilled in witchcraft], and they also, these magicians (soothsayer-priests) of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts and enchantments. ¹² For every ^[b]man threw down his staff and they turned into serpents; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Followers of Tradition

7 Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes came from Jerusalem and gathered around Him, ² and they had seen that some of His disciples ate their bread with [ceremonially] impure hands, that is, unwashed [and defiled according to Jewish religious ritual]. ³ (^[a]For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat unless they ^[b]carefully wash their hands, holding firmly to the traditions of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they ^[c]cleanse themselves [completely according to ritual]; and there are many other things [oral, man-made laws and traditions handed down to them] which they follow diligently, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper utensils.) ⁵ So the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, “Why do Your disciples not live their lives according to the tradition of the elders, but [instead] eat their bread with [ceremonially] unwashed hands?” ⁶ He replied, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), as it is written [in Scripture],

⁸ You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside and nullifying the commandment of God in order to keep your [man-made] tradition and regulations. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother [with respect and gratitude]’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of his father or mother must be put to death’;^{(B) 11} but you [Pharisees and scribes] say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you is Corban, (that is to say, already a gift to God),”’ ¹² then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother [since helping them would violate his vow of Corban]; ¹³ so you nullify the [authority of the] word of God [acting as if it did not apply] because of your tradition which you have handed down [through the elders]. And you do many things such as that.”