Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 121^[a]

The Lord My Guardian

¹ A song of ascents.

Death of the Firstborn. ^29 (A)And so at midnight the Lord struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn of the animals. ³⁰ Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians; and there was loud wailing throughout Egypt, for there was not a house without its dead.

Permission to Depart. ³¹ During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Leave my people at once, you and the Israelites! Go and serve the Lord as you said. ³² Take your flocks, too, and your herds, as you said, and go; and bless me, too!”^[a]

³³ The Egyptians, in a hurry to send them away from the land, urged the people on, for they said, “All of us will die!” ³⁴ The people, therefore, took their dough before it was leavened, in their kneading bowls wrapped in their cloaks on their shoulders. ^35 (B)And the Israelites did as Moses had commanded: they asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. ³⁶ Indeed the Lord had made the Egyptians so well-disposed toward the people that they let them have whatever they asked for. And so they despoiled the Egyptians.

Departure from Egypt. ³⁷ The Israelites set out from Rameses^(C) for Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, not counting the children. ³⁸ A crowd of mixed ancestry^[b] also went up with them, with livestock in great abundance, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ The dough they had brought out of Egypt they baked into unleavened loaves. It was not leavened, because they had been driven out of Egypt and could not wait. They did not even prepare food for the journey.

⁴⁰ The time the Israelites had stayed in Egypt^[c] was four hundred and thirty years.^{(D) 41} At the end of four hundred and thirty years, on this very date, all the armies of the Lord left the land of Egypt. ⁴² This was a night of vigil for the Lord, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt; so on this night all Israelites must keep a vigil for the Lord throughout their generations.

Chapter 13

Obedience to Authority.^{[a] 1} Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.^{(A) 2} Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves. ³ For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil.^(B) Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it, ⁴ for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer.^{(C) 5} Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience.^{(D) 6} This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. ⁷ Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.^(E)

Love Fulfills the Law.^[b]