Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁸ Then a new king came into power over Egypt. He did not know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “See, the people of Israel are too many and too powerful for us. ¹⁰ Come, let us be wise in how we act towards them, or they will become more in number. If there is a war, they might join with those who hate us. They might fight against us and then leave the land.”

¹¹ So they put men in power over them to make them work hard. And they built the store-cities Pithom and Raamses for Pharaoh the king. ¹² But the more the Egyptians made them suffer, the more they became until they spread throughout the land. So the Egyptians were afraid of the people of Israel. ¹³ The Egyptians made the people of Israel work very hard. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter with hard work building with stones and with all kinds of work in the field. They made them work very hard.

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew nurses. The name of one was Shiphrah. The name of the other was Puah. ¹⁶ He said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth, and see the baby before the mother does, if it is a son, kill him. But if it is a daughter, let her live.” ¹⁷ But the nurses feared God. They did not do what the king of Egypt told them. They let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called the nurses and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the boys live?” ¹⁹ The nurses answered Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are strong. They give birth before the nurse comes to them.” ²⁰ So God was good to the nurses. And the people became many and strong. ²¹ Because the nurses feared God, He gave them families. ²² Then Pharaoh told all his people, “Throw every son who is born to the Hebrews into the Nile. But keep every daughter alive.”

2 Now a man of the family of Levi married a daughter of Levi. ² She was going to have a baby, and she gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. ³ But the time came when she could hide him no longer. So she took a basket made from grass, and covered it with tar and put the child in it. And she set it in the grass by the side of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stayed to watch and find out what would happen to him.

⁵ Then the daughter of Pharaoh came to wash herself in the Nile. Her young women walked beside the Nile. She saw the basket in the tall grass and sent the woman who served her to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the child. The boy was crying. She had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” ⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” ⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me. And I will pay you.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter. And he became her son. She gave him the name Moses, saying, “Because I took him out of the water.”

God Watches Over His People

124 “If the Lord had not been on our side,” let Israel say, ² “If the Lord had not been on our side when men came against us, ³ they would have eaten us up alive. Because their anger burned against us. ⁴ The waters would have covered us. The river would have passed over our soul. ⁵ The angry waters would have passed over our soul.”

⁶ Honor and thanks be to the Lord! He has not let us be torn by their teeth. ⁷ We have become free like a bird out of a trap. The net is broken and now we are free. ⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

12 Christian brothers, I ask you from my heart to give your bodies to God because of His loving-kindness to us. Let your bodies be a living and holy gift given to God. He is pleased with this kind of gift. This is the true worship that you should give Him. ² Do not act like the sinful people of the world. Let God change your life. First of all, let Him give you a new mind. Then you will know what God wants you to do. And the things you do will be good and pleasing and perfect.

³ God has given me His loving-favor. This helps me write these things to you. I ask each one of you not to think more of himself than he should think. Instead, think in the right way toward yourself by the faith God has given you. ⁴ Our bodies are made up of many parts. None of these parts have the same use. ⁵ There are many people who belong to Christ. And yet, we are one body which is Christ’s. We are all different but we depend on each other. ⁶ We all have different gifts that God has given to us by His loving-favor. We are to use them. If someone has the gift of preaching the Good News, he should preach. He should use the faith God has given him. ⁷ If someone has the gift of helping others, then he should help. If someone has the gift of teaching, he should teach. ⁸ If someone has the gift of speaking words of comfort and help, he should speak. If someone has the gift of sharing what he has, he should give from a willing heart. If someone has the gift of leading other people, he should lead them. If someone has the gift of showing kindness to others, he should be happy as he does it.

Peter Says Jesus Is the Christ ^(A)

¹³ Jesus came into the country of Caesarea Philippi. He asked His followers, “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?” ¹⁴ They said, “Some say You are John the Baptist and some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the early preachers.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of Jonah, you are happy because you did not learn this from man. My Father in heaven has shown you this.

¹⁸ “And I tell you that you are Peter. On this rock I will build My church. The powers of hell will not be able to have power over My church. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the holy nation of heaven. Whatever you do not allow on earth will not have been allowed in heaven. Whatever you allow on earth will have been allowed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then with strong words He told His followers to tell no one that He was the Christ.