19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for ^xall the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took ^yhis wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^zthe staff of God in his hand.

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the ^amiracles that I have put in your power. But ^bI will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^cIsrael is my ^dfirstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I ^ewill kill your firstborn son.’”

24 At a lodging place on the way ^fthe Lord met him and ^gsought to put him to death. 25 Then ^hZipporah took a ⁱflint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’¹ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness ^jto meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the ^kmountain of God and kissed him. 28 And Moses ^ltold Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all ^mthe signs that he had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron ⁿwent and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 ^oAaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And the people ^pbelieved; and when they heard that the Lord had ^qvisited the people of Israel and that he had ^rseen their affliction, ^sthey bowed their heads and worshiped.

Jesus Is Mocked

16 ^tAnd the soldiers led him away inside ^uthe palace (that is, ^vthe governor’s headquarters),¹ and they called together the whole ^wbattalion.² 17 And they clothed him in ^xa purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, ^y“Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and ^zspitting on him and ^akneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had ^bmocked him, they stripped him of ^xthe purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they ^cled him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

21 ^dAnd they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 ^eAnd they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with ^fmyrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and ^gdivided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And ^hit was the third hour³ when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, ⁱ“The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two ^jrobbers, ^kone on his right and one on his left.⁴ 29 And ^lthose who passed by derided him, ^mwagging their heads and saying, ⁿ“Aha! ^oYou who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, ^p“He saved others; ^qhe cannot save himself. 32 Let ^rthe Christ, ^sthe King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may ^tsee and believe.” ^uThose who were crucified with him also reviled him.