Exodus 16:2-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.(A) 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”(B)
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.(C) 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.”(D) 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?”(E) 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites: ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ”(F) 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.(G) 11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 12 “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.(H) 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.(I) 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”[a] For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.(J) 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer per person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.”
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- 16.15 Or “It is manna”
Psalm 105
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 105
God’s Faithfulness to Israel
1 O give thanks to the Lord; call on his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples.(A)
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wonderful works.(B)
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.(C)
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually.(D)
5 Remember the wonderful works he has done,
his miracles and the judgments he has uttered,(E)
6 O offspring of his servant Abraham,[a]
children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.(F)
8 He is mindful of his covenant forever,
of the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,(G)
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,(H)
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance.”(I)
12 When they were few in number,
of little account and strangers in it,(J)
13 wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their account,(K)
15 saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
16 When he summoned famine against the land
and cut off every supply of bread,[b](L)
17 he had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.(M)
18 His feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;(N)
19 until what he had said came to pass,
the word of the Lord kept testing him.(O)
20 The king sent and released him;
the ruler of the peoples set him free.(P)
21 He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,(Q)
22 to instruct[c] his officials at his pleasure
and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt;
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.(R)
24 And the Lord made his people very fruitful
and made them stronger than their foes,(S)
25 whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
to deal craftily with his servants.(T)
26 He sent his servant Moses
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.(U)
27 They performed his signs among them
and miracles in the land of Ham.(V)
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark;
they rebelled[d] against his words.(W)
29 He turned their waters into blood
and caused their fish to die.(X)
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings.(Y)
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies
and gnats throughout their country.(Z)
32 He gave them hail for rain
and lightning that flashed through their land.(AA)
33 He struck their vines and fig trees
and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
and young locusts without number;(AB)
35 they devoured all the vegetation in their land
and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the first issue of all their strength.(AC)
37 Then he brought Israel[e] out with silver and gold,
and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.(AD)
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
for dread of them had fallen upon it.(AE)
39 He spread a cloud for a covering
and fire to give light by night.(AF)
40 They asked, and he brought quails
and gave them food from heaven in abundance.(AG)
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.(AH)
42 For he remembered his holy promise
and Abraham, his servant.(AI)
Matthew 20:1-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Laborers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.(A) 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’(B) 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’(C) 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?(D) 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’[a](E) 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”[b](F)
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