◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Exodus 1:8—2:10 (Pharaoh’s daughter takes Moses in); Psalm 124 (We have escaped like a bird); Romans 12:1-8 (One body in Christ with gifts that differ); Matthew 16:13-20 (The profession of Peter’s faith) (New American Bible (Revised Edition))

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Exodus 1:8-2:10

The Oppression. ⁸^(A)Then a new king, who knew nothing of Joseph,^[a] rose to power in Egypt. ⁹He said to his people, “See! The Israelite people have multiplied and become more numerous than we are! ¹⁰Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase;^[b] otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave the land.”

¹¹Accordingly, they set supervisors over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor.^(B) Thus they had to build for Pharaoh^[c] the garrison cities of Pithom and Raamses. ¹²Yet the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians began to loathe the Israelites. ¹³So the Egyptians reduced the Israelites to cruel slavery, ¹⁴making life bitter for them with hard labor, at mortar^[d] and brick and all kinds of field work—cruelly oppressed in all their labor.

Command to the Midwives. ¹⁵The king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was called Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶“When you act as midwives for the Hebrew women, look on the birthstool:^[e] if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she may live.” ¹⁷The midwives, however, feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt had ordered them, but let the boys live. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this, allowing the boys to live?” ¹⁹The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are robust and give birth before the midwife arrives.” ²⁰Therefore God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and grew very numerous. ²¹And because the midwives feared God, God built up families for them. ²²Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “Throw into the Nile every boy that is born,^(C) but you may let all the girls live.”

Chapter 2

Birth and Adoption of Moses. ¹Now a man^[f] of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,^(D) ²and the woman conceived and bore a son. Seeing what a fine child he was, she hid him for three months.^(E) ³But when she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket,^[g] daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and putting the child in it, placed it among the reeds on the bank of the Nile. ⁴His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

⁵Then Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the Nile, while her attendants walked along the bank of the Nile. Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it. ⁶On opening it, she looked, and there was a baby boy crying! She was moved with pity for him and said, “It is one of the Hebrews’ children.” ⁷Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and summon a Hebrew woman to nurse the child for you?” ⁸Pharaoh’s daughter answered her, “Go.” So the young woman went and called the child’s own mother. ⁹Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.”^[h] So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰When the child grew,^[i] she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son.^(F) She named him Moses; for she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Footnotes

1:8 Who knew nothing of Joseph: the nuance intended by the Hebrew verb “know” here goes beyond precise determination. The idea may be not simply that a new king came to power who had not heard of Joseph but that this king ignored the services that Joseph had rendered to Egypt, repudiating the special relationship that existed between Joseph and his predecessor on the throne.
1:10 Increase: Pharaoh’s actions thereby immediately pit him against God’s will for the Israelites to multiply; see note on v. 7 above.
1:11 Pharaoh: not a personal name, but a title common to all the kings of Egypt.
1:14 Mortar: either the wet clay with which the bricks were made, as in Na 3:14, or the cement used between the bricks in building, as in Gn 11:3.
1:16 Birthstool: apparently a pair of stones on which the mother is seated for childbirth opposite the midwife. The Hebrew word elsewhere is used to refer to the stones of a potter’s wheel.
2:1 Now a man: the chapter begins abruptly, without names for the man or woman (in contrast to the midwives of 1:15), who in 6:20 are identified as Amram and Jochebed.
2:3 Basket: the same Hebrew word is used in Gn 6:14 and throughout the flood narrative for Noah’s ark, but nowhere else in the Bible. Here, however, the “ark” or “chest” was made of papyrus stalks. Presumably the allusion to Genesis is intentional. Just as Noah and his family were preserved safe from the threatening waters of the flood in the ark he built, so now Moses is preserved from the threatening waters of the Nile in the ark prepared by his mother. Among the reeds: the Hebrew noun for “reed” is overwhelmingly used in the phrase “Reed Sea,” traditionally translated “Red Sea.”
2:9 And I will pay your wages: the idea that the child’s mother will be paid for nursing her child—and by Pharaoh’s own daughter—heightens the narrative’s irony.
2:10 When the child grew: while v. 9 implies that the boy’s mother cared for him as long as he needed to be nursed (presumably, between two and four years), the same verb appears in v. 11 to describe the attainment of adulthood. And he became her son: Pharaoh’s daughter adopts Moses, thus adding to the irony of the account. The king of Egypt had ordered the killing of all the sons of the Hebrews, and one now becomes the son of his own daughter! Moses: in Hebrew, mosheh. There is a play on words here: Hebrew mosheh echoes meshithihu (“I drew him out”). However, the name Moses actually has nothing to do with that Hebrew verb, but is probably derived from Egyptian “beloved” or “has been born,” preserved in such Pharaonic names as Thutmoses (meaning approximately “Beloved of the god Thoth” or “The god Thoth is born, has given birth to [the child]”). The original meaning of Moses’ name was no longer remembered (if it was Egyptian, it may have contained an Egyptian divine element as well, perhaps the name of the Nile god Hapi), and a secondary explanation was derived from this story (or gave rise to it, if the drawing from the water of the Nile was intended to foreshadow the Israelites’ escape from Egypt through the Red Sea).

Psalm 124

Psalm 124^[a]

God, the Rescuer of the People

¹A song of ascents. Of David.

Had not the Lord been with us,
    let Israel say,^(A)
²Had not the Lord been with us,
    when people rose against us,
³Then they would have swallowed us alive,^(B)
    for their fury blazed against us.
⁴Then the waters would have engulfed us,
    the torrent overwhelmed us;^(C)
⁵    then seething water would have drowned us.
⁶Blessed is the Lord, who did not leave us
    to be torn by their teeth.
⁷We escaped with our lives like a bird
    from the fowler’s snare;
    the snare was broken,
    and we escaped.
⁸^[b]Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    the maker of heaven and earth.^(D)

Romans 12:1-8

VI. The Duties of Christians^[a]

Chapter 12

Sacrifice of Body and Mind. ¹^[b]I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.^(A) ²Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.^(B)

Many Parts in One Body. ³^(C)For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned. ⁴^(D)For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, ⁵so we, though many, are one body in Christ^[c] and individually parts of one another. ⁶^(E)Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them:^[d] if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; ⁷if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; ⁸if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others,^[e] with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Footnotes

12:1–13:14 Since Christ marks the termination of the Mosaic law as the primary source of guidance for God’s people (Rom 10:4), the apostle explains how Christians can function, in the light of the gift of justification through faith, in their relation to one another and the state.
12:1–8 The Mosaic code included elaborate directions on sacrifices and other cultic observances. The gospel, however, invites believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). Instead of being limited by specific legal maxims, Christians are liberated for the exercise of good judgment as they are confronted with the many and varied decisions required in the course of daily life. To assist them, God distributes a variety of gifts to the fellowship of believers, including those of prophecy, teaching, and exhortation (Rom 12:6–8). Prophets assist the community to understand the will of God as it applies to the present situation (Rom 12:6). Teachers help people to understand themselves and their responsibilities in relation to others (Rom 12:7). One who exhorts offers encouragement to the community to exercise their faith in the performance of all that is pleasing to God (Rom 12:8). Indeed, this very section, beginning with Rom 12:1, is a specimen of Paul’s own style of exhortation.
12:5 One body in Christ: on the church as the body of Christ, see 1 Cor 12:12–27.
12:6 Everyone has some gift that can be used for the benefit of the community. When the instruction on justification through faith is correctly grasped, the possessor of a gift will understand that it is not an instrument of self-aggrandizement. Possession of a gift is not an index to quality of faith. Rather, the gift is a challenge to faithful use.
12:8 Over others: usually taken to mean “rule over” but possibly “serve as a patron.” Wealthier members in Greco-Roman communities were frequently asked to assist in public service projects. In view of the references to contributing in generosity and to acts of mercy, Paul may have in mind people like Phoebe (Rom 16:1–2), who is called a benefactor (or “patron”) because of the services she rendered to many Christians, including Paul.

Matthew 16:13-20

¹³^(A)When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi^[a] he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴^(B)They replied, “Some say John the Baptist,^[b] others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶^[c]^(C)Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood^[d] has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. ¹⁸^(D)And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,^[e] and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹^(E)I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.^[f] Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰^[g]^(F)Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

The First Prediction of the Passion.^[h]

Footnotes

16:13 Caesarea Philippi: situated about twenty miles north of the Sea of Galilee in the territory ruled by Philip, a son of Herod the Great, tetrarch from 4 B.C. until his death in A.D. 34 (see note on Mt 14:1). He rebuilt the town of Paneas, naming it Caesarea in honor of the emperor, and Philippi (“of Philip”) to distinguish it from the seaport in Samaria that was also called Caesarea. Who do people say that the Son of Man is?: although the question differs from the Marcan parallel (Mk 8:27: “Who…that I am?”), the meaning is the same, for Jesus here refers to himself as the Son of Man (cf. Mt 16:15).
16:14 John the Baptist: see Mt 14:2. Elijah: cf. Mal 3:32–34; Sir 48:10; and see note on Mt 3:4. Jeremiah: an addition of Matthew to the Marcan source.
16:16 The Son of the living God: see Mt 2:15; 3:17. The addition of this exalted title to the Marcan confession eliminates whatever ambiguity was attached to the title Messiah. This, among other things, supports the view proposed by many scholars that Matthew has here combined his source’s confession with a post-resurrectional confession of faith in Jesus as Son of the living God that belonged to the appearance of the risen Jesus to Peter; cf. 1 Cor 15:5; Lk 24:34.
16:17 Flesh and blood: a Semitic expression for human beings, especially in their weakness. Has not revealed this…but my heavenly Father: that Peter’s faith is spoken of as coming not through human means but through a revelation from God is similar to Paul’s description of his recognition of who Jesus was; see Gal 1:15–16, “…when he [God]…was pleased to reveal his Son to me….”
16:18 You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: the Aramaic word kēpā’ meaning rock and transliterated into Greek as Kēphas is the name by which Peter is called in the Pauline letters (1 Cor 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:4; Gal 1:18; 2:9, 11, 14) except in Gal 2:7–8 (“Peter”). It is translated as Petros (“Peter”) in Jn 1:42. The presumed original Aramaic of Jesus’ statement would have been, in English, “You are the Rock (Kēpā’) and upon this rock (kēpā’) I will build my church.” The Greek text probably means the same, for the difference in gender between the masculine noun petros, the disciple’s new name, and the feminine noun petra (rock) may be due simply to the unsuitability of using a feminine noun as the proper name of a male. Although the two words were generally used with slightly different nuances, they were also used interchangeably with the same meaning, “rock.” Church: this word (Greek ekklēsia) occurs in the gospels only here and in Mt 18:17 (twice). There are several possibilities for an Aramaic original. Jesus’ church means the community that he will gather and that, like a building, will have Peter as its solid foundation. That function of Peter consists in his being witness to Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it: the netherworld (Greek Hadēs, the abode of the dead) is conceived of as a walled city whose gates will not close in upon the church of Jesus, i.e., it will not be overcome by the power of death.
16:19 The keys to the kingdom of heaven: the image of the keys is probably drawn from Is 22:15–25 where Eliakim, who succeeds Shebna as master of the palace, is given “the key of the House of David,” which he authoritatively “opens” and “shuts” (Is 22:22). Whatever you bind…loosed in heaven: there are many instances in rabbinic literature of the binding-loosing imagery. Of the several meanings given there to the metaphor, two are of special importance here: the giving of authoritative teaching, and the lifting or imposing of the ban of excommunication. It is disputed whether the image of the keys and that of binding and loosing are different metaphors meaning the same thing. In any case, the promise of the keys is given to Peter alone. In Mt 18:18 all the disciples are given the power of binding and loosing, but the context of that verse suggests that there the power of excommunication alone is intended. That the keys are those to the kingdom of heaven and that Peter’s exercise of authority in the church on earth will be confirmed in heaven show an intimate connection between, but not an identification of, the church and the kingdom of heaven.
16:20 Cf. Mk 8:30. Matthew makes explicit that the prohibition has to do with speaking of Jesus as the Messiah; see note on Mk 8:27–30.
16:21–23 This first prediction of the passion follows Mk 8:31–33 in the main and serves as a corrective to an understanding of Jesus’ messiahship as solely one of glory and triumph. By his addition of from that time on (Mt 16:21) Matthew has emphasized that Jesus’ revelation of his coming suffering and death marks a new phase of the gospel. Neither this nor the two later passion predictions (Mt 17:22–23; 20:17–19) can be taken as sayings that, as they stand, go back to Jesus himself. However, it is probable that he foresaw that his mission would entail suffering and perhaps death, but was confident that he would ultimately be vindicated by God (see Mt 26:29).

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Chapter 2

Footnotes

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Psalm 124^[a]

God, the Rescuer of the People

Footnotes

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VI. The Duties of Christians^[a]

Chapter 12

Footnotes

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Chapter 2

Footnotes

Cross references

Psalm 124[a]

God, the Rescuer of the People

Footnotes

Cross references

VI. The Duties of Christians[a]

Chapter 12

Footnotes

Cross references

Footnotes

Cross references

Psalm 124^[a]

VI. The Duties of Christians^[a]