Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Trust in God’s Protection
A song for the ascents.[a]
121 I lift up my eyes to the mountains;
whence will my help come?
2 My help is from Yahweh,
maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
he who protects you will not slumber.
4 Look, he will not slumber and he will not sleep—
he who protects Israel.
5 Yahweh is your protector;
Yahweh is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 Yahweh will protect you from all evil;[b]
he will protect your life.
8 Yahweh will protect your going out and your coming in
from now until forever.
Death of Firstborn and Deliverance from Egypt
29 And[a] in the middle of the night, Yahweh struck all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison house and every firstborn of an animal. 30 And Pharaoh got up at night, he and all his servants and all Egypt, and a great cry of distress was in Egypt because there was not a house where there was no one dead. 31 And he called Moses and Aaron at night, and he said, “Get up, go out from the midst of my people, both you as well as the Israelites,[b] and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said. 32 Take both your sheep and goats as well as your cattle, and go, and bless also me.”
33 And the Egyptians urged the people in order to hurry their release[c] from the land, because they said, “All of us will die!”[d] 34 And the people lifted up their dough before it had yeast; their kneading troughs were wrapped up in their cloaks on their shoulder. 35 And the Israelites[e] did according to the word of Moses, and they asked from the Egyptians for objects of silver and objects of gold and for clothing. 36 And Yahweh gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they granted their requests, and they plundered the Egyptians.
37 And the Israelites[f] set out from Rameses to Succoth; the men were about six hundred thousand on foot,[g] besides dependents. 38 And also a mixed multitude[h] went up with them and sheep and goats and cattle, very numerous livestock. 39 And they baked the dough that they had brought out from Egypt as cakes, unleavened bread, because it had no yeast when they were driven out from Egypt, and they were not able to delay, and also they had not made provisions for themselves.
40 And the period of dwelling of the Israelites[i] that they dwelled in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on this exact day, all of Yahweh’s divisions went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It is a night of vigils[j] belonging to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; it is this night belonging to Yahweh with vigils for all of the Israelites[k] throughout their generations.
Obedience to the Governing Authorities
13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except by God, and those that exist are put in place by God. 2 So then, the one who resists authority resists the ordinance which is from God, and those who resist will receive condemnation on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of terror for a good deed, but for bad conduct. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it, 4 for it is God’s servant to you for what is good. But if you do what is bad, be afraid, because it does not bear the sword to no purpose. For it is God’s servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does what is bad. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities[a] are servants of God, busily engaged in this very thing. 7 Pay to everyone what is owed: pay taxes to whom taxes are due; pay customs duties to whom customs duties are due; pay respect to whom respect is due; pay honor to whom honor is due.[b]
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