Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is ^(A)faint and ^(B)pours out his complaint before the Lord.

Pillars of Cloud and Fire

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did ^(A)not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people ^(B)change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ But God ^(C)led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. ¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph^[a] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, ^(D)“God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” ²⁰ And ^(E)they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ And ^(F)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. ²² The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

¹⁷ “But ^(A)as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^(B)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ until there arose over Egypt another king ^(C)who did not know Joseph. ^19 (D)He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^(E)so that they would not be kept alive. ^20 (F)At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, ²¹ and ^(G)when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses ^(H)was instructed in ^(I)all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^(J)mighty in his words and deeds.

²³ “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^(K)to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. ^26 (L)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^(M)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ At this retort ^(N)Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^(O)where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰ “Now when forty years had passed, ^(P)an angel appeared to him ^(Q)in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ^32 (R)‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, ^(S)‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ^34 (T)I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^(U)have heard their groaning, and ^(V)I have come down to deliver them. ^(W)And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵ “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^(X)saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^(Y)by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (Z)This man led them out, performing ^(AA)wonders and signs ^(AB)in Egypt and ^(AC)at the Red Sea and ^(AD)in the wilderness for ^(AE)forty years. ³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^(AF)a prophet like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸ This is the one ^(AG)who was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^(AH)the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^(AI)He received ^(AJ)living ^(AK)oracles to give to us. ³⁹ Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^(AL)in their hearts they turned to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron, ^(AM)‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’