Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A song for going up to worship.

13 The Lord spoke to Moses, ² “Set apart every firstborn male for me. Every firstborn male offspring among the Israelites is mine, whether human or animal.”

³ Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day—the day when you left Egypt, the land of slavery. The Lord used his mighty hand to bring you out of there. Don’t eat anything made with yeast. ⁴ Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving Egypt. ⁵ The Lord swore to your ancestors that he would give you the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. When he brings you into that land flowing with milk and honey, you must observe this ceremony in this month.

⁶ “For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. The seventh day will be a pilgrimage festival in the Lord’s honor. ⁷ Only unleavened bread should be eaten during these seven days. No sourdough or yeast should be seen anywhere in your territory. ⁸ On that day tell your children, ‘We do this because of what the Lord did for us when we left Egypt.’ ⁹ This ⌞festival⌟ will be ⌞like⌟ a mark on your hand or a reminder on your forehead that the teachings of the Lord are ⌞always⌟ to be a part of your conversation. Because the Lord used his mighty hand to bring you out of Egypt, ¹⁰ you must follow these rules every year at this time.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree^(A)

¹⁸ In the morning, as Jesus returned to the city, he became hungry. ¹⁹ When he saw a fig tree by the road, he went up to the tree and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to the tree, “May fruit never grow on you again!” At once the fig tree dried up.

²⁰ The disciples were surprised to see this. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”

²¹ Jesus answered them, “I can guarantee this truth: If you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to the fig tree. You could also say to this mountain, ‘Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. ²² Have faith that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”