Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Harsh Condition of the Children of Israel.[a] 8 Then a new king arose in Egypt who had not known Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Behold, the children of Israel are very numerous and more powerful than we are. 10 Let us deal wisely with them lest they continue to multiply. Otherwise, if there were a war, they would join our enemies and battle against us and then escape from the land.”
11 So taskmasters were set over the children of Israel to wear them down with forced labor. They built the supply cities[b] of Pithom and Raameses for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and grew beyond measure. The Egyptians began to dread the presence of the children of Israel 13 and therefore put them to work, treating them harshly. 14 They made their lives difficult and forced them to make clay bricks and to do all kinds of work in the fields. They forced them to do every type of harsh work.
15 Command to the Midwives. The king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrews, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other named Puah, 16 “When you assist the Hebrew women who are in labor, look at the child while it is still on the birthing stool. If it is a boy, kill it. If it is a girl, you can let it live.” 17 But the midwives feared God. They did not do what the king of Egypt had ordered them to do. They let the babies live.
18 The king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and let the babies live?” 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptians. They are full of life. Before the midwife arrives, they have already given birth.”
20 God blessed the midwives. The people grew and became very numerous. 21 God gave the midwives numerous families because they had feared God. 22 Pharaoh therefore gave this command to all of his people: “Every male son who is born to the Hebrews is to be thrown into the Nile, but let the girl babies live.”
The Liberator Raised Up by God
Chapter 2
Moses Is Saved.[c] 1 There was a certain man from the tribe of Levi who took a daughter of the tribe of Levi as his wife. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son. She saw that he was handsome and she hid him for three months. 3 But, not being able to hide him any longer, she took a basket made of papyrus, caulked it with bitumen and pitch, and placed the baby in it and lay it among the reeds growing on the riverbank of the Nile. 4 The baby’s sister[d] hid herself so that she could watch what would happen from a distance.
5 Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe while her attendants walked along the riverbank. They saw the basket among the reeds and sent a slave to fetch it. 6 They opened it and saw the baby. It was a small baby boy who was crying. They had compassion on it and said, “This is a Hebrew baby.”
7 The sister of the baby said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go to call a wet nurse from among the Hebrew women to feed the child for you?”
8 “Go,” said Pharaoh’s daughter. The girl went and called the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby with you and feed it for me. I will pay you.” The woman took the baby and fed it. 10 When the baby was grown, she brought it to Pharaoh’s daughter. He became a son to her and she named him Moses, saying, “I have saved him from the water.”[e]
Psalm 124[a]
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Help
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
[b]If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel now proclaim—[c]
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
when our enemies attacked[d] us,
3 [e]then they would have swallowed us alive
as their wrath was kindled against us.
4 [f]The waters would have washed us away,
the torrent would have swept over us,
5 and we would have drowned
in the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who did not give us as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare was broken,
and we escaped.[g]
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.[h]
The Need for Faith in Daily Life[a]
Chapter 12
The New Life and the True Worship. 1 Therefore, brethren, I implore you by the mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to God—a spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you will be able to discern the will of God and to know what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Right Use of the Gifts of the One Body. 3 Through the grace that God has bestowed upon me, I advise every one of you not to think of yourself too highly, but to regard yourself objectively, based on the measure of faith that God has granted. 4 For just as in one body we have many parts, and the parts do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, make up one body in Christ,[b] and individually we are all parts of one another.
6 We all have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If it is a gift of prophecy, we should exercise it in proportion to our faith. 7 If it is a gift of ministry, we should engage in serving others. If it is a gift of teaching, we should teach. 8 If it is a gift of exhortation, we should encourage. Whoever gives alms should do so generously; whoever leads should do so conscientiously; whoever performs acts of mercy should do so cheerfully.
13 Peter’s Confession of Christ’s Divinity.[a]When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,[b] he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the Prophets.” 15 “But you,” he said to them, “who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[c]
17 Then Jesus 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 And I say to you: You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church,[e] and the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”[f] 20 Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell[g] anyone that he was the Christ.
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