How Long, O Lord?

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

Moses Makes New Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, ^(B)and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, ^(C)which you broke. ² Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me ^(D)on the top of the mountain. ³ No ^(E)one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” ⁴ So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. ⁵ The Lord ^(F)descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and ^(G)proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ^(H)“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and ^(I)gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast ^(J)love and faithfulness, ^7 (K)keeping steadfast love for thousands,^{[a] (L)}forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but ^(M)who will by no means clear the guilty, ^(N)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” ⁸ And Moses quickly ^(O)bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. ⁹ And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please ^(P)let the Lord go in the midst of us, for ^(Q)it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for ^(R)your inheritance.”

The Covenant Renewed

¹⁰ And he said, “Behold, ^(S)I am making a covenant. Before all your people ^(T)I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an ^(U)awesome thing that I will do with you.

¹¹ “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, ^(V)I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ^12 (W)Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a ^(X)snare in your midst. ¹³ You shall ^(Y)tear down their altars and ^(Z)break their pillars and cut down their ^(AA)Asherim ¹⁴ (for ^(AB)you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), ^15 (AC)lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they ^(AD)whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and ^(AE)you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, ¹⁶ and you take of ^(AF)their daughters for your sons, and their daughters ^(AG)whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

^17 (AH)“You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.

^18 (AI)“You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in ^(AJ)the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. ^19 (AK)All that open the womb are mine, all your male^[b] livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. ²⁰ The ^(AL)firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And ^(AM)none shall appear before me empty-handed.

^21 (AN)“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. ^22 (AO)You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. ^23 (AP)Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will ^(AQ)cast out nations before you and ^(AR)enlarge your borders; ^(AS)no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

^25 (AT)“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, ^(AU)or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. ^26 (AV)The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. ^(AW)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.”

²⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words ^(AX)I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” ^28 (AY)So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he ^(AZ)wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.^[c]

The Shining Face of Moses

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with ^(BA)the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face ^(BB)shone because he had been talking with God.^{[d] 30} Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face ^(BC)shone, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. ³² Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he ^(BD)commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. ³³ And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a ^(BE)veil over his face.

³⁴ Whenever Moses ^(BF)went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, ³⁵ the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was ^(BG)shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ^(A)ten virgins who took their lamps^[a] and went to meet ^(B)the bridegroom.^{[b] 2} Five of them were foolish, and five were ^(C)wise. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵ As the bridegroom ^(D)was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶ But ^(E)at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins rose and ^(F)trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and ^(G)those who were ready went in with him to ^(H)the marriage feast, and ^(I)the door was shut. ¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ^(J)‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ^12 (K)But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, ^(L)I do not know you.’ ^13 (M)Watch therefore, for you ^(N)know neither the day nor the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

^14 (O)“For ^(P)it will be like a man ^(Q)going on a journey, who called his servants^[c] and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five ^(R)talents,^[d] to another two, to another one, ^(S)to each according to his ability. Then he ^(T)went away. ¹⁶ He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷ So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸ But he who had received the one talent went and ^(U)dug in the ground and hid his master's money. ¹⁹ Now ^(V)after a long time the master of those servants came and ^(W)settled accounts with them. ²⁰ And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(X)faithful servant.^{[e] (Y)}You have been faithful over a little; ^(Z)I will set you over much. Enter into ^(AA)the joy of your master.’ ²² And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be ^(AB)a hard man, reaping ^(AC)where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, ^(AD)you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master answered him, ‘You ^(AE)wicked and ^(AF)slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ^29 (AG)For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And ^(AH)cast ^(AI)the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place ^(AJ)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’