Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

^29 (A)At midnight the ^(B)Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, ^(C)from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. ³⁰ And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was ^(D)a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. ³¹ Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, ^(E)both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. ^32 (F)Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

The Exodus

^33 (G)The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. ³⁵ The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had ^(H)asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. ^36 (I)And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that ^(J)they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ And the ^(K)people of Israel journeyed from ^(L)Rameses to Succoth, ^(M)about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ A ^(N)mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because ^(O)they were thrust out of Egypt and ^(P)could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

⁴⁰ The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. ⁴¹ At the end of ^(Q)430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a ^(R)night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

Submission to the Authorities

13 Let every person ^(A)be subject to the governing authorities. For ^(B)there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you ^(C)will receive his approval, ⁴ for ^(D)he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, ^(E)an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also ^(F)for the sake of conscience. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ^7 (G)Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.