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.”

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.

11 But Moses said to God, ^o“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, ^p“But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, ^qyou shall serve God on this mountain.”

13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”¹ And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ^r‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord,² the ^sGod of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is ^tmy name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

12 ^dPut on then, as ^eGod’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, ^fcompassionate hearts, ^gkindness, ^hhumility, meekness, and patience, 13 ^hbearing with one another and, ⁱif one has a complaint against another, ^gforgiving each other; ^gas the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on ^jlove, which ^kbinds everything together in ^lperfect harmony. 15 And let ^mthe peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called ⁿin one body. And ^obe thankful. 16 Let ^pthe word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, ^qsinging psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ^rwith thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And ^swhatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, ^tgiving thanks to God the Father through him.

22 And ^rwhen the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem ^sto present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in ^tthe Law of the Lord, ^u“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in ^tthe Law of the Lord, ^v“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was ^wrighteous and ^xdevout, ^ywaiting for ^zthe consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^asee death before he had seen ^bthe Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when ^cthe parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and ^dblessed God and said,

33 And ^mhis father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed ⁿfor the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign ^othat is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

36 And there was ^pa prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.² She did not depart from the temple, ^qworshiping with ^rfasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were ^swaiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

39 And when they had performed everything according to ^tthe Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of ^uNazareth. 40 ^vAnd the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.