The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn
29 pAt midnight the Lord 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 rthere was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 sThen he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, t“Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. 32 uTake 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 m“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, n“Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for oby a strong hand the Lord pbrought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 Today, qin the month of Abib, you are going out. 5 And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he rswore to your fathers to give you, sa land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. 6 tSeven 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 uno leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. 8 vYou 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 be to you as a sign on your hand and as a wmemorial xbetween 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 You 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, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 you 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 yEvery firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, zthe Lord 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 all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord
1 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
look, and see our disgrace!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink;
the wood we get must be bought.
5 Our pursuers are at our necks;
we are weary; we are given no rest.
6 We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria,
to get bread enough.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
and iwe bear their iniquities.
8 Slaves rule over us;
there is none to deliver us from their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our jskin is hot as an oven
with the burning heat of famine.
11 Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes are hung up by their hands;
kno respect is shown to the elders.
13 Young men are compelled to grind at the mill,
and boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The old men have left the city gate,
the young men their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased;
our dancing has been turned lto mourning.
16 The mcrown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 For this our heart nhas become sick,
for these things our oeyes have grown dim,
18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
jackals prowl over it.
19 pBut you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures to all generations.
20 Why do you qforget us forever,
why do you forsake us for so many days?
21 rRestore us to yourself, O Lord, sthat we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old—
22 unless you have tutterly rejected us,
and you remain uexceedingly angry with us.
1 Therefore let us leave the pelementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from qdead works rand of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings,1 the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For sit is impossible, in the case of those who have once been tenlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and uhave shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have vtasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, wsince they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land 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, and yits 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 God is not unjust so as to overlook your zwork and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the afull assurance of bhope until the end, 12 so that you may not be csluggish, but dimitators of those who through faith and patience einherit 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, fhe swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham,2 having patiently waited, gobtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to hlie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to ihold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that jenters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 kwhere Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, lhaving 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.
1 dMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
eWhy are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, fbut you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises1 of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued;
gin you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and hdespised by the people.
7 All who see me imock me;
they make mouths at me; they jwag their heads;
8 k“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
9 Yet lyou are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 mBe not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is nnone to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring olion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For pdogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have qpierced my hands and feet2—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 rthey divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
O you my help, scome quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the tlion!
You have rescued3 me from the horns of the wild oxen!
22 uI will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, vglorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will wperform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted4 shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live forever!
27 All the xends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down yto the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be ztold of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people ayet unborn,
that he has done it.
