The Wilderness Way^(A)

¹⁷ Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people ^(B)change their minds when they see war, and ^(C)return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God ^(D)led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁹ And Moses took the ^(E)bones of ^(F)Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, ^(G)“God will surely ^[a]visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

²⁰ So ^(H)they took their journey from ^(I)Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ And ^(J)the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. ²² He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

The Red Sea Crossing

14 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Speak to the children of Israel, ^(K)that they turn and camp before ^(L)Pi Hahiroth, between ^(M)Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. ³ For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ^(N)‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ ⁴ Then ^(O)I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I ^(P)will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, ^(Q)that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

⁵ Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and ^(R)the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ So he ^[b]made ready his chariot and took his people with him. ⁷ Also, he took ^(S)six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. ⁸ And the Lord ^(T)hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and ^(U)the children of Israel went out with boldness. ⁹ So the ^(V)Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel ^(W)cried out to the Lord. ^11 (X)Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? ^12 (Y)Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

¹³ And Moses said to the people, ^(Z)“Do not be afraid. ^(AA)Stand still, and see the ^(AB)salvation^[c] of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall ^(AC)see again no more forever. ^14 (AD)The Lord will fight for you, and you shall ^(AE)hold^[d] your peace.”

¹⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. ¹⁶ But ^(AF)lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. ¹⁷ And I indeed will ^(AG)harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will ^(AH)gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

¹⁹ And the Angel of God, ^(AI)who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. ²⁰ So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and ^(AJ)made the sea into dry land, and the waters were ^(AK)divided. ²² So ^(AL)the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were ^(AM)a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ²³ And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

²⁴ Now it came to pass, in the morning ^(AN)watch, that ^(AO)the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He ^[e]troubled the army of the Egyptians. ²⁵ And He ^[f]took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord ^(AP)fights for them against the Egyptians.”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” ²⁷ And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea ^(AQ)returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord ^(AR)overthrew^[g] the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. ²⁸ Then ^(AS)the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. ²⁹ But ^(AT)the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

³⁰ So the Lord ^(AU)saved^[h] Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel ^(AV)saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Thus Israel saw the great ^[i]work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and ^(AW)believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

The Song of Moses^(AX)

15 Then ^(AY)Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying:

Jesus’ Authority Questioned^(A)

^23 (B)Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and ^(C)said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”

²⁴ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵ The ^(D)baptism of ^(E)John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we ^(F)fear the multitude, ^(G)for all count John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”

And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my ^(H)vineyard.’ ²⁹ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, ^(I)“Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. ³² For ^(J)John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; ^(K)but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward ^[a]relent and believe him.

The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers^(L)

³³ “Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner ^(M)who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and ^(N)went into a far country. ³⁴ Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. ^35 (O)And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. ³⁷ Then last of all he sent his ^(P)son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ^(Q)‘This is the heir. ^(R)Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ^39 (S)So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”

^41 (T)They said to Him, ^(U)“He will destroy those wicked men miserably, ^(V)and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will ^[b]render to him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ “Therefore I say to you, ^(X)the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. ⁴⁴ And ^(Y)whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, ^(Z)it will grind him to powder.”

⁴⁵ Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they ^[c]perceived that He was speaking of them. ⁴⁶ But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they ^(AA)feared the multitudes, because ^(AB)they took Him for a prophet.

A Prayer for Divine Scrutiny and Redemption

A Psalm of David.