Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People

^(A)A Psalm of Thanksgiving.

Aaron Is Moses’ Spokesman

²⁸ And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹ that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. ^(A)Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

³⁰ But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, ^(B)I am ^[a]of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?”

Moses Before Pharaoh

7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you ^(C)as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be ^(D)your prophet. ² You ^(E)shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. ³ And ^(F)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and ^(G)multiply My ^(H)signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But ^(I)Pharaoh will not heed you, so ^(J)that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My ^[b]armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt ^(K)by great judgments. ⁵ And the Egyptians ^(L)shall know that I am the Lord, when I ^(M)stretch out My hand on Egypt and ^(N)bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

⁶ Then Moses and Aaron ^(O)did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. ⁷ And Moses was ^(P)eighty years old and ^(Q)Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod^(R)

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ⁹ “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ^(S)‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ^(T)‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just ^(U)as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it ^(V)became a serpent.

¹¹ But Pharaoh also ^(W)called the wise men and ^(X)the ^[c]sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also ^(Y)did in like manner with their ^[d]enchantments. ¹² For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. ¹³ And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

Defilement Comes from Within^(A)

7 Then ^(B)the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. ² Now ^[a]when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with ^(C)unwashed hands, ^[b]they found fault. ³ For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands ^[c]in a special way, holding the ^(D)tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.

^5 (E)Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”

⁶ He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you ^(F)hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—^[d]the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

⁹ He said to them, “All too well ^(H)you ^[e]reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ^(I)‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^(J)‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, ^(K)“Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), ¹² then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, ¹³ making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”