Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 102[a]
Prayer in Time of Distress
1 The prayer of one afflicted and wasting away whose anguish is poured out before the Lord.
I
2 Lord, hear my prayer;
let my cry come to you.
3 Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress.(A)
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
4 For my days vanish like smoke;(B)
my bones burn away as in a furnace.
5 My heart is withered, dried up like grass,
too wasted to eat my food.
6 From my loud groaning
I become just skin and bones.
7 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
8 I lie awake and moan,
like a lone sparrow on the roof.
9 All day long my enemies taunt me;
in their rage, they make my name a curse.[b]
10 I eat ashes like bread,
mingle my drink with tears.(C)
11 Because of your furious wrath,
you lifted me up just to cast me down.
12 (D)My days are like a lengthening shadow;(E)
I wither like the grass.
II
13 But you, Lord, are enthroned forever;
your renown is for all generations.(F)
14 You will again show mercy to Zion;
now is the time for pity;
the appointed time has come.
15 Its stones are dear to your servants;
its dust moves them to pity.
16 The nations shall fear your name, Lord,
all the kings of the earth, your glory,(G)
17 Once the Lord has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in glory,
IV. The Deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh and Victory at the Sea
Toward the Red Sea. 17 Now, when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the Philistines’ land,[a] though this was the nearest; for God said: If the people see that they have to fight, they might change their minds and return to Egypt. 18 Instead, God rerouted them toward the Red Sea by way of the wilderness road, and the Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt arrayed for battle. 19 Moses also took Joseph’s bones(A) with him, for Joseph had made the Israelites take a solemn oath, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you must bring my bones up with you from here.”
20 Setting out from Succoth, they camped at Etham(B) near the edge of the wilderness.
21 (C)The Lord preceded them, in the daytime by means of a column of cloud to show them the way, and at night by means of a column of fire[b] to give them light. Thus they could travel both day and night. 22 Neither the column of cloud by day nor the column of fire by night ever left its place in front of the people.
17 “When the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise that God pledged to Abraham, the people had increased and become very numerous in Egypt,(A) 18 until another king who knew nothing of Joseph came to power [in Egypt].(B) 19 He dealt shrewdly with our people and oppressed [our] ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, that they might not survive. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was extremely beautiful. For three months he was nursed in his father’s house;(C) 21 but when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.(D) 22 Moses was educated [in] all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.
23 (E)“When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his kinsfolk, the Israelites. 24 When he saw one of them treated unjustly, he defended and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He assumed [his] kinsfolk would understand that God was offering them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. 26 (F)The next day he appeared to them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you harming one another?’ 27 Then the one who was harming his neighbor pushed him aside, saying, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 Moses fled when he heard this and settled as an alien in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.(G)
30 (H)“Forty years later, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look at it, the voice of the Lord came, 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.’ Then Moses, trembling, did not dare to look at it. 33 But the Lord said to him, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.’ 35 This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge?’ God sent as [both] ruler and deliverer, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.(I) 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for forty years.(J) 37 It was this Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you, from among your own kinsfolk, a prophet like me.’(K) 38 It was he who, in the assembly in the desert, was with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our ancestors, and he received living utterances to hand on to us.(L)
39 “Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,(M) 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will be our leaders. As for that Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’(N)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.