Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord a Fortress in Adversity

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

Moses at the Burning Bush^(A)

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of ^(B)Jethro his father-in-law, ^(C)the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to ^(D)Horeb, ^(E)the mountain of God. ² And ^(F)the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. ³ Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this ^(G)great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

⁴ So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called ^(H)to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

⁵ Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. ^(I)Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” ⁶ Moreover He said, ^(J)“I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for ^(K)he was afraid to look upon God.

⁷ And the Lord said: ^(L)“I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry ^(M)because of their taskmasters, ^(N)for I know their ^[a]sorrows. ⁸ So ^(O)I have come down to ^(P)deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land ^(Q)to a good and large land, to a land ^(R)flowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^(S)the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. ⁹ Now therefore, behold, ^(T)the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the ^(U)oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ^10 (V)Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

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

¹² So He said, ^(X)“I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a ^(Y)sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Stephen’s Address: The Call of Abraham

7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

² And he said, ^(A)“Brethren and fathers, listen: The ^(B)God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in ^(C)Haran, ³ and said to him, ^(D)‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ ⁴ Then ^(E)he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was ^(F)dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. ⁵ And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, ^(G)He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. ⁶ But God spoke in this way: ^(H)that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into ^(I)bondage and oppress them four hundred years. ^7 (J)‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will ^(K)judge,’ said God, ^(L)‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ ^8 (M)Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; ^(N)and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; ^(O)and Isaac begot Jacob, and ^(P)Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

The Patriarchs in Egypt

^9 (Q)“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, ^(R)sold Joseph into Egypt. ^(S)But God was with him ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all his troubles, ^(T)and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ^11 (U)Now a famine and great ^[a]trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. ^12 (V)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ¹³ And the ^(W)second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. ^14 (X)Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and ^(Y)all his relatives to him, ^[b]seventy-five people. ^15 (Z)So Jacob went down to Egypt; ^(AA)and he died, he and our fathers. ¹⁶ And ^(AB)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in ^(AC)the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.