Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 31

A Plea for Protection

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.

Moses and the Burning Bush

3 Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,^[a] the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,^[b] the mountain of God.^{(A) 2} Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush.^(B) As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. ³ So Moses thought: I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

⁵ “Do not come closer,” He said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”^{(C) 6} Then He continued, “I am the God of your father,^[c] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”^(D) Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out^(E) because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. ⁸ I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey^(F)—the territory of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.^{(G) 9} The Israelites’ cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing^(H) them. ¹⁰ Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses asked God, “Who am I^(I) that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² He answered, “I will certainly be with you,^(J) and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship^[d] God at this mountain.”

Stephen’s Sermon

7 “Is this true?”^[a] the high priest asked.

² “Brothers and fathers,” he said, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,^{(A) 3} and said to him:

⁴ “Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land you now live in.^{(C) 5} He didn’t give him an inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, but He promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him,^(D) even though he was childless. ⁶ God spoke in this way:

⁸ Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised^(F) him on the eighth day; Isaac did the same with Jacob, and Jacob with the 12 patriarchs.^(G)

The Patriarchs in Egypt

⁹ “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him^{(H) 10} and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.^{(I) 11} Then a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan,^(J) and our ancestors could find no food. ¹² When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors the first time. ¹³ The second time, Joseph was revealed to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Joseph then invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, 75 people in all,^{(K) 15} and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,^{(L) 16} were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.^(M)