Exodus 13-15
13
Sanctification of the Firstborn
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Sanctify to Me all the firstborn, the first-begotten, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both man and cattle; it is Mine.”
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you went out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 On this day you are going out, in the month of new grains. 5 And it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Gergesites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. 6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days, and no leavened bread shall be seen among you; nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your regions. 8 Then you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the Lord my God did for me when I came up from Egypt.’ 9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial before your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord God brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this law according to the times of the seasons from year to year.
Tradition of the Firstborn
11 “Then it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 that you shall set apart to the Lord all that open the womb, that is, every male, everything that opens the womb from the herds or among your cattle; as many as you shall have, you shall sanctify the males to the Lord. 13 But every offspring that opens the womb of a donkey you shall exchange for a sheep; but if you will not exchange it, you shall redeem it; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘With a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 15 Thus it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of cattle. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a sign on your hand and immoveable before your eyes, for with a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire
17 Thus when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by way of the desert to the Red Sea, and in the fifth generation the children of Israel went up from the land of Egypt. 19 Now Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” 20 So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham by the desert. 21 Moreover, God led them, by day in a pillar of cloud to show them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire. 22 Thus the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before all the people.
14
Crossing the Red Sea
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp at the village between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before them by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the desert has closed them in.’ 4 Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them; and I will be glorified in Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know I am the Lord.” So they did.
5 Now it was told the king of the Egyptians that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. 7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. 8 Thus the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and his servants, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with a high hand. 9 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the cavalry and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the village opposite Baal Zephon.
10 Now when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the desert? Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”
13 Then Moses said to the people, “Be of good courage. Stand still and see the Lord’s salvation which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. 16 Now lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it; and let the children of Israel go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 17 I indeed will harden Pharaoh’s heart and all the Egyptians, and they will go in after them. So I will be glorified in Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horses. 18 Then the Egyptians will know I am the Lord, when I am glorified upon Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horses.”
19 Now the Angel of God who went before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud also went from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and the night passed; but there was such darkness and blackness, they did not come near one another all that night. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord carried back the sea by a strong south wind all that night and made the sea dry ground. Thus the waters were divided. 22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 Then the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen. 24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud; and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. 25 He bound the axles of their chariot wheels and caused them to proceed with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots and the riders.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were trying to flee. But the Lord shook off the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all of Pharaoh’s army that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. 29 But the children of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. The waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 So the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the Lord’s mighty hand and the things He did to the Egyptians; therefore, the people feared the Lord and believed God and His servant Moses.
15
The Song of Moses
1 Now Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to God and spoke, saying:
“Let us sing to the Lord, for He is greatly glorified.
Horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord became my helper and the shield of my salvation;
He is my God, and I will glorify Him;
My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
3 The Lord brings wars to nothing;
The Lord is His name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and army He cast into the sea;
His chosen captains also were drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The sea covered them;
They sank to the bottom like a stone.
6 “Your right hand, O God, is glorified in strength;
Your right hand, O God, dashed the enemy in pieces.
7 In the greatness of Your glory
You broke the adversaries to pieces;
You sent forth Your wrath;
It consumed them like stubble.
8 By the Spirit of Your anger the waters were gathered together;
The waves stood upright in the midst of the sea;
The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoils;
I will satisfy my soul;
I will destroy with my sword;
My hand shall have dominion.’
10 You sent forth Your Spirit;
The sea covered them;
They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like You, glorified in holiness,
Marvelous in praises, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out Your right hand;
The earth swallowed them up.
13 In righteousness You guided Your people whom You redeemed;
In strength You called them to Your holy resting place.
14 “The nations heard and were angry;
Pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 The princes of Edom
And the chiefs of the Moabites were dismayed;
Trembling took hold of them;
All the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.
16 Fear and dread fell upon them;
By the greatness of Your arm, let them become as stone
Till Your people pass over, O Lord,
Till Your people pass over, whom You purchased.
17 Bring them in and plant them in the mountain of their inheritance,
In Your prepared habitation, O Lord, which Your hands made ready;
The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands established.
18 “The Lord reigns forever and ever and ever.”
19 For Pharaoh’s horses went with his chariots and horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
The Song of Miriam
20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dances. 21 So Miriam led them:
“Let us sing to the Lord, for He is greatly glorified.
Horse and rider He cast into the sea.”
Bitter Waters Sweetened
22 Thus Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the desert and found no water to drink. 23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore he named that place Bitterness. 24 Then the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 So he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them. There He proved him 26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is pleasing in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His ordinances, I will put none of the diseases on you that I brought on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord your God who heals you.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve fountains of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.
Psalms 24:12–22
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
He will instruct him in the way He chooses.
13 His soul shall dwell among good things;
His seed shall inherit the earth.
14 The Lord is the strength of those who fear Him,
And to those who fear Him, His name is the Lord,
And He will show them His covenant.
15 My eyes are always toward the Lord,
For He shall pluck my feet out of the trap.
16 Look upon me and have mercy on me,
For I am only-begotten and poor.
17 The afflictions of my heart have been widened;
Bring me out of my distresses.
18 Look on my humiliation and my pain
And forgive all my sins.
19 Look on my enemies, because they multiply,
And they hate me with unjustified hatred.
20 Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, because I hope in You.
21 The innocent and the upright cleave to me
Because I wait upon You, O Lord.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all his afflictions.
Proverbs 4:24–28
24 Let your eyes look straight forward,
And let your eyelids assent to righteous things.
25 Make straight paths for your feet
And direct your ways aright.
26 Do not turn aside to the right or to the left,
But turn your foot from an evil way;
27 For God knows the ways on the right hand,
But those on the left are perverse;
28 And He shall make your paths straight
And guide your steps in peace.
Matthew 15:1–20
Defilement Comes from Within
1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,
2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
4 “For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”—
6 ‘then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
7 “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand:
11 “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
14 “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
16 So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding?
17 “Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?
18 “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
19 “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.20 “These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”