A (0:03)

Exodus, chapter 13. Consecration of the firstborn. The Lord said to Moses, 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. Then Moses said to the people, remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery. For by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. Today. In the month of Abib, you are going out. And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service. In this month, seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. And on the seventh day, there shall be a feast. To the Lord. 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. You shall tell your son on that day it is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between 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. You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year. 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, 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. Every 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. 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. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the 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 opened the womb. But all the firstborn of my sons I redeem. 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. Pillars of cloud and fire. 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 the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness and toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out in the land of Egypt, equipped for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here. And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, and on the edge on the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. Exodus chapter 14. Crossing the red Sea Then the Lord said to Moses, tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of PI Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of BAAL Zephon. You shall encamp facing it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, they are wandering in the land, the wilderness has shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people. And they said, what is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us? So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took 600 chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel. While the people of Israel were going out defiantly, the Egyptians pursued them all, Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them, encamped at the sea by PI Ha Ha in front of BAAL Zephon. When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, they said to Moses, is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt? Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians, for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. And Moses said to the people, fear not. Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today, for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. The Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them. And I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen. Then the angel of God, who was going before the host of Israel, moved and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness, and it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. And the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen. And in the morning watched the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud, looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand over the sea that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen. So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Matthew chapter 27:45 66. The death of Jesus. Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, eli, Eli limasabachthani. That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, this man is calling Elijah. And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his Spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him keeping watch over Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, truly, this was the Son of God. There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Jesus is buried. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there sitting opposite the tomb, the guard at the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, sir, we remember how that imposter said while he was still alive. After three days, I will rise. Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead, and the last fraud will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you have a guard of soldiers go make it as secure as you can. So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Psalm chapter 28 the Lord is my strength and my shield. To you, O Lord, I call my rock. Be not deaf to me, lest if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary, do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts. Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds. Give to them according to the work of their hands. Render them their due reward, because they do not regard the works of the Lord or the work of his hands. He will tear them down and build them up no more. Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield in him my heart trusts and I am helped My heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. The Lord is the strength of his people he is the saving refuge of his anointed. O save your people and bless your heritage. Be their shepherd and carry them forever.