Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Saved Israel from Egypt
A maskil of Asaph.
78 My people, listen to my teaching.
Listen to what I say.
2 I will speak using stories.
I will tell things that have been secret since long ago.
3 We have heard them and know them.
Our fathers told them to us.
4 We will not keep them from our children.
We will tell those who come later
about the praises of the Lord.
We will tell about his power
and the miracles he has done.
52 But God led out his people like sheep.
He guided them like a flock through the desert.
53 He led them to safety. They had nothing to fear.
But their enemies drowned in the sea.
54 So God brought them to his holy land.
He brought them to the mountain country he took with his own power.
55 He forced out the other nations.
And he had his people inherit the land.
He let the tribes of Israel settle there in tents.
56 But they tested God
and turned against the Most High.
They did not keep his rules.
57 They turned away and sinned just like their ancestors.
They were like a crooked bow that does not shoot straight.
58 They made God angry by building places to worship false gods.
They made him jealous with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he became very angry.
And he rejected the people of Israel completely.
60 He left his dwelling at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
61 He let his Ark of the Covenant be captured.
He let the Ark of the Covenant, which was his glory, be taken by enemies.
62 He let his people be killed.
He was very angry with his children.
63 The young men died by fire.
The young women had no one to marry.
64 Their priests fell by the sword.
But their widows were not allowed to cry.
65 Then the Lord got up as if he had been asleep.
He awoke like a man who was drunk with wine.
66 He struck down his enemies.
He disgraced them forever.
67 But God rejected the family of Joseph.
He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 And he built his Temple high like the mountains.
Like the earth, he built it to last forever.
70 He chose David to be his servant.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71 He brought him from tending the sheep
so he could lead the flock, the people of Jacob.
This flock was his own people, the people of Israel.
72 And David led them with an innocent heart.
He guided them with skillful hands.
13 That evening, quail came and covered the camp. And in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost were on the desert ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, “What is that?” They asked this question because they did not know what it was.
So Moses told them, “This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 The Lord has commanded, ‘Each one of you must gather what he needs. Gather about two quarts for every person in your family.’”
17 So the people of Israel did this. Some people gathered much, and some gathered little. 18 Then they measured it. The person who gathered more did not have too much. The person who gathered less did not have too little. Each person gathered just as much as he needed.
19 Moses said to them, “Don’t keep any of it to eat the next day.” 20 But some of the people did not listen to Moses. They kept part of it to eat the next morning. But it became full of worms and began to stink. So Moses was angry with these people.
21 Every morning each person gathered as much food as he needed. But when the sun became hot, it melted away.
22 On the sixth day the people gathered twice as much food. They gathered four quarts for every person. So all the leaders of the community came and told this to Moses. 23 Moses said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded. Tomorrow is the Sabbath, the Lord’s holy day of rest. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil today. But save the rest of the food until tomorrow morning.”
24 So the people saved it until the next morning, as Moses had commanded. And none of it began to stink or have worms in it. 25 Moses told the people, “Eat the food you gathered yesterday. Today is a Sabbath, the Lord’s day of rest. So you will not find any out in the field today. 26 You should gather the food for six days. But the seventh day is a Sabbath day. On that day there will not be any food on the ground.”
19 So one of you will ask me: “If God controls the things we do, then why does he blame us for our sins? Who can fight his will?” 20 Do not ask that. You are only human. And human beings have no right to question God. An object cannot tell the person who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 The man who makes a jar can make anything he wants to make. He can use the same clay to make different things. He can make one thing for special use and another thing for daily use.
22 It is the same way with what God has done. God wanted to show his anger and to let people see his power. But God patiently stayed with those people he was angry with—people who were ready to be destroyed. 23 God waited with patience so that he could make known his rich glory. He wanted to give that glory to the people who receive his mercy. He has prepared these people to have his glory, and 24 we are those people whom God called. He called us from the Jews and from the non-Jews. 25 As the Scripture says in Hosea:
“I will say, ‘You are my people’
to those I had called ‘not my people.’
And I will show my love
to those people I did not love.” Hosea 2:1, 23
26 “Now it is said to Israel,
‘You are not my people.’
But later they will be called
‘children of the living God.’” Hosea 1:10
27 And Isaiah cries out about Israel:
“There are so many people of Israel.
They are like the grains of sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will be saved.
28 For the Lord will quickly and completely punish the people on the earth.” Isaiah 10:22-23
29 It is as Isaiah said:
“The Lord of heaven’s armies
allowed a few of our descendants to live.
Otherwise we would have been completely destroyed
like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.”[a] Isaiah 1:9
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.