Exodus 2:21–25 (JPS translation)

Moses consented to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah as wife. She bore a son whom he named Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”

A long time after that, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites were groaning under the bondage and cried out; and their cry for help from the bondage rose up to God. God heard their moaning, and God remembered the covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.

Questions for reflection. What word or phrase in this passage stays with you, and why? What does this passage reveal about God’s relationship to those who are suffering or living as strangers? What does this text invite us to do as faith leaders today?

Recall the framing that Ashrei’s Clergy Collective often returns to: “We cannot understand our texts if we don’t hear the cries.” God enters the story at the cry of the enslaved. God enlists Moses to use his privilege to answer it. Where is Moses today? Who will speak for the immigrants? Where do you hear the cries in your community?

Leviticus 19:33–34 — “When strangers reside with you in your land, you shall not wrong them. The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 23:9 — “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” The argument against detention: you know the soul of the stranger.

Deuteronomy 10:17–19 — God “shows no favor and takes no bribe, but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger, providing food and clothing. You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

Leviticus 19:9–10 — leave the edges of your field and the fallen fruit “for the poor and the stranger.” Immigrants belong inside the communities of care we are called to create.

Numbers 35:9–15, cities of refuge — “These six cities shall serve the Israelites and the resident aliens among them for refuge.” Refuge is extended explicitly to non-citizens, and explicitly requires a trial before punishment. Sanctuary and due process, in one passage.

Isaiah 58:6–7 — “this is the fast I desire: to unlock fetters of wickedness, and untie the cords of the yoke to let the oppressed go free.”

Jeremiah 22:3 and Zechariah 7:9–10 — the recurring triad: do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow.

Genesis 21 — Abraham forces out Hagar (ha-ger, the stranger) and Ishmael, risking the boy’s life; in the very next chapter he puts Isaac at risk. What we do to others, we do to ourselves.

All quotations from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE) English translation of the Bible.

Matthew 25:31–46 — “I was a stranger and you welcomed me… just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.” Don’t overlook the separation of the sheep and the goats in this frequently utilized text, which is often referred to as the “Judgment of Nations.” How might we understand this individually and collectively?

Matthew 2:13–15 — the flight into Egypt. “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt…” The Holy Family as refugees. The most preachable text in the collection.

Luke 10:25–37 — the Good Samaritan, and the question that provokes it (verse 29): “And who is my neighbor?”

Hebrews 13:1–2 — “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

Galatians 6:2 — “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Romans 12:13 — “Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.”

Ephesians 2:19 — “you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints.”

Exodus 22:21, Leviticus 19:33–34, Deuteronomy 10:17–19, Isaiah 58:6–10 — shared with our Jewish siblings, and worth naming as shared when you preach them.

A frame that works across traditions. The Hebrew ger — resident alien — appears in the Torah’s justice triad alongside the orphan and the widow. The command is not charity. It is non-oppression plus equal legal standing: “as the native-born among you.” And the stated foundation for this is the memory of your own displacement.

Translation: Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran, via Quran.com.

Qur’an 9:6 — “And if anyone from the polytheists asks for your protection, grant it to them so they may hear the Word of Allah, then escort them to a place of safety.” Protection is commanded even for the religious outsider — and the duty does not end at shelter. It extends to safe escort. This helps us understand accompaniment in the Qur’an.

Qur’an 59:9 — the Ansar of Madinah “love whoever immigrates to them, never having a desire in their hearts for whatever of the gains is given to the emigrants.” Hospitality without resentment over resources — a direct answer to scarcity arguments.

Qur’an 9:100 — “the first of the Emigrants and the Helpers… Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him.” Emigrants and Helpers named together, in the same rank.

Qur’an 4:97–100 — the obligation of hijra (loosely understood as migration for religious freedom), with an explicit carve-out at 4:98 for “helpless men, women, and children who cannot afford a way out.” Migration is not equally available to everyone. The text knows this.

Qur’an 8:72 and 16:41 — those who migrated and those who sheltered them “are truly guardians of one another.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 6018 — “Anybody who believes in Allah and the Last Day should not harm his neighbor, and anybody who believes in Allah and the Last Day should entertain his guest generously.”

UUA shared values (Article II) — “the inseparable and deeply interdependent shared values of interdependence, pluralism, justice, transformation, generosity, and equity – all centered around love.” Many congregations still work from the Seven Principles, of which the first, second and sixth bear most directly here: “the inherent worth and dignity of every person”; “justice, equity and compassion in human relations”; “the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.”

AFSC’s six principles of welcoming, dignified and just immigration — six clean lines that read well aloud at a vigil, and are quoted in full on their site (linked below).

Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) — drawing on a core Quaker principle (God in everyone), the FCNL outlines priorities for immigration reform including: family unity, pathways to legal status and citizenship, improved access to legal immigration, protections for laborers and against exploitation, community safety, and the protection of human rights in all practices and policies.

American Humanist Association, Res. 2019-003 — calls for “a path to citizenship for undocumented persons… just judicial proceedings… [and the] decriminalization of undocumented border crossings or visa-overstays.”

American Ethical Union — has several immigration statements and resolutions, most of which call for immigration reforms that include ending the criminalization of migration and the rehumanization of immigration as ethical necessity.