Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Hymn of Praise^[a]

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go back to my relatives in Egypt to see if they are still alive.” Jethro agreed and told him good-bye.

¹⁹ While Moses was still in Midian, the Lord said to him, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and set out with them for Egypt, carrying the walking stick that God had told him to take.

²¹ Again the Lord said to Moses, “Now that you are going back to Egypt, be sure to perform before the king all the miracles which I have given you the power to do. But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not let the people go. ²² Then you must tell him that I, the Lord, say, ‘Israel is my first-born son. ^23 (A)I told you to let my son go, so that he might worship me, but you refused. Now I am going to kill your first-born son.’”

Jesus Is Greater than Moses

3 My Christian friends, who also have been called by God! Think of Jesus, whom God sent to be the High Priest of the faith we profess. ^2 (A)He was faithful to God, who chose him to do this work, just as Moses was faithful in his work in God's house. ³ A man who builds a house receives more honor than the house itself. In the same way Jesus is worthy of much greater honor than Moses. ⁴ Every house, of course, is built by someone—and God is the one who has built all things. ⁵ Moses was faithful in God's house as a servant, and he spoke of the things that God would say in the future. ⁶ But Christ is faithful as the Son in charge of God's house. We are his house if we keep up our courage and our confidence in what we hope for.