The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

29 ^oAt midnight the ^pLord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, ^qfrom 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 ^ra 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, ^sboth you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. 32 ^tTake your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

Consecration of the Firstborn

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ^o“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

3 Then Moses said to the people, ^p“Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, ^qfor by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. ^rNo leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 Today, in the month of ^sAbib, you are going out. 5 And when the Lord brings you into ^tthe land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which ^uhe swore to your fathers to give you, a land ^vflowing with milk and honey, ^wyou shall keep this service in this month. 6 ^xSeven 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 for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. 8 ^yYou shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 And it shall ^zbe to you as a sign on your hand and as ^aa memorial ^zbetween your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. 10 ^bYou shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

11 “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, ^cas he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 ^dyou shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. 13 ^eEvery firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every ^ffirstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 ^gAnd when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ^h‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of ⁱslavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the ^jLord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but ^kall the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 ^lIt shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for ^mby a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord

1 Therefore ⁱlet us leave ^jthe elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance ^kfrom dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of ^linstruction about washings,^{1 m}the laying on of hands, ⁿthe resurrection of the dead, and ^oeternal judgment. 3 And this we will do ^pif God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those ^qwho have once been enlightened, who have tasted ^rthe heavenly gift, and ^shave shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and ^thave tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and ^uthen have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since ^vthey are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For ^wland that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But ^xif it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, ^yand its end is to be burned.

9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For ^zGod is not unjust so as to overlook ^ayour work and the love that you have shown for his name in ^bserving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance ^cof hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but ^dimitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Certainty of God’s Promise

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, ^ehe swore by himself, 14 saying, ^f“Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham,^{2 g}having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes ^han oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to ⁱthe heirs of the promise ^jthe unchangeable character of his purpose, ^khe guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which ^lit is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope ^mset before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into ⁿthe inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone ^oas a forerunner on our behalf, ^phaving become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.