Moses at the Burning Bush^(A)

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of ^(B)Jethro his father-in-law, ^(C)the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to ^(D)Horeb, ^(E)the mountain of God. ² And ^(F)the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. ³ Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this ^(G)great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

⁴ So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called ^(H)to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

⁵ Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. ^(I)Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” ⁶ Moreover He said, ^(J)“I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for ^(K)he was afraid to look upon God.

⁷ And the Lord said: ^(L)“I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry ^(M)because of their taskmasters, ^(N)for I know their ^[a]sorrows. ⁸ So ^(O)I have come down to ^(P)deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land ^(Q)to a good and large land, to a land ^(R)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(S)the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. ⁹ Now therefore, behold, ^(T)the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the ^(U)oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ^10 (V)Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, ^(W)“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

¹² So He said, ^(X)“I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a ^(Y)sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

¹⁴ And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ^(Z)‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” ¹⁵ Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is ^(AA)My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’

Glory to God for His Grace^(A)

¹² And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has ^(B)enabled me, ^(C)because He counted me faithful, ^(D)putting me into the ministry, ¹³ although ^(E)I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an ^[a]insolent man; but I obtained mercy because ^(F)I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ^14 (G)And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, ^(H)with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ^15 (I)This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that ^(J)Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. ¹⁷ Now to ^(K)the King eternal, ^(L)immortal, ^(M)invisible, to ^[b]God ^(N)who alone is wise, ^(O)be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Matthew the Tax Collector^(A)

^9 (B)As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

^10 (C)Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with ^(D)tax collectors and ^(E)sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ^(F)‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, ^(G)but sinners, ^[a]to repentance.”