Psalm 102:1-17

New International Version

Psalm 102^[a]

A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.

¹Hear my prayer,^(A) Lord;
    let my cry for help^(B) come to you.
²Do not hide your face^(C) from me
    when I am in distress.
Turn your ear^(D) to me;
    when I call, answer me quickly.

³For my days vanish like smoke;^(E)
    my bones^(F) burn like glowing embers.
⁴My heart is blighted and withered like grass;^(G)
    I forget to eat my food.^(H)
⁵In my distress I groan aloud^(I)
    and am reduced to skin and bones.
⁶I am like a desert owl,^(J)
    like an owl among the ruins.
⁷I lie awake;^(K) I have become
    like a bird alone^(L) on a roof.
⁸All day long my enemies^(M) taunt me;^(N)
    those who rail against me use my name as a curse.^(O)
⁹For I eat ashes^(P) as my food
    and mingle my drink with tears^(Q)
¹⁰because of your great wrath,^(R)
    for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
¹¹My days are like the evening shadow;^(S)
    I wither^(T) away like grass.

¹²But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;^(U)
    your renown endures^(V) through all generations.^(W)
¹³You will arise^(X) and have compassion^(Y) on Zion,
    for it is time^(Z) to show favor^(AA) to her;
    the appointed time^(AB) has come.
¹⁴For her stones are dear to your servants;
    her very dust moves them to pity.
¹⁵The nations will fear^(AC) the name of the Lord,
    all the kings^(AD) of the earth will revere your glory.
¹⁶For the Lord will rebuild Zion^(AE)
    and appear in his glory.^(AF)
¹⁷He will respond to the prayer^(AG) of the destitute;
    he will not despise their plea.

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Footnotes

Psalm 102:1 In Hebrew texts 102:1-28 is numbered 102:2-29.

Exodus 13:17-22

New International Version

Crossing the Sea

¹⁷When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”^(A) ¹⁸So God led^(B) the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.^[a] The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.^(C)

¹⁹Moses took the bones of Joseph^(D) with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”^[b]^(E)

²⁰After leaving Sukkoth^(F) they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.^(G) ²¹By day the Lord went ahead^(H) of them in a pillar of cloud^(I) to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. ²²Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left^(J) its place in front of the people.

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Footnotes

Exodus 13:18 Or the Sea of Reeds
Exodus 13:19 See Gen. 50:25.

Acts 7:17-40

New International Version

¹⁷“As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.^(A) ¹⁸Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’^[a]^(B) ¹⁹He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.^(C)

²⁰“At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.^[b] For three months he was cared for by his family.^(D) ²¹When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.^(E) ²²Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians^(F) and was powerful in speech and action.

²³“When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. ²⁴He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. ²⁵Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. ²⁶The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’

²⁷“But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?^(G) ²⁸Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’^[c] ²⁹When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.^(H)

³⁰“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. ³¹When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:^(I) ³²‘I am the God of your fathers,^(J) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’^[d] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.^(K)

³³“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.^(L) ³⁴I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’^[e]^(M)

³⁵“This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’^(N) He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶He led them out of Egypt^(O) and performed wonders and signs^(P) in Egypt, at the Red Sea^(Q) and for forty years in the wilderness.^(R)

³⁷“This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’^[f]^(S) ³⁸He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel^(T) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;^(U) and he received living words^(V) to pass on to us.^(W)

³⁹“But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.^(X) ⁴⁰They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’^[g]^(Y)

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