Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Safe in the Lord
91 Those who go to God Most High for safety
will be protected by God All-Powerful.
2 I will say to the Lord, “You are my place of safety and protection.
You are my God, and I trust you.”
9 The Lord is your protection.
You have made God Most High your place of safety.
10 Nothing bad will happen to you.
No disaster will come to your home.
11 He has put his angels in charge of you.
They will watch over you wherever you go.
12 They will catch you with their hands.
And you will not hit your foot on a rock.
13 You will walk on lions and cobras.
You will step on strong lions and snakes.
14 The Lord says, “If someone loves me, I will save him.
I will protect those who know me.
15 They will call to me, and I will answer them.
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue them and honor them.
16 I will give them a long, full life.
They will see how I can save.”
10 So the slave masters and foremen went to the Israelites and said, “This is what the king says: I will no longer give you straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it. But you must make as many bricks as you made before.” 12 So the people went everywhere in Egypt looking for dry stalks to use for straw. 13 The slave masters kept forcing the people to work harder. They said, “You must make just as many bricks as you did when you were given straw.” 14 The king’s slave masters had chosen the Israelite foremen. They had made them responsible for the work the people did. The Egyptian slave masters beat these men and asked them, “Why aren’t you making as many bricks as you made in the past?”
15 Then the Israelite foremen went to the king. They complained and said, “Why are you treating us, your servants, this way? 16 You give us no straw. But we are commanded to make bricks. Our slave masters beat us. But it is your own people’s fault.”
17 The king answered, “You are lazy! You don’t want to work! That is why you ask to leave here and make sacrifices to the Lord. 18 Now, go back to work! We will not give you any straw. But you must make just as many bricks as you did before.”
19 The Israelite foremen knew they were in trouble. This was because the king had told them: “You must make just as many bricks each day as you did before.” 20 As they were leaving the meeting with the king, they met Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron were waiting for them. 21 So they said to Moses and Aaron, “May the Lord punish you. You caused the king and his officers to hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us.”
Moses Complains to God
22 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have you brought this trouble on your people? Is this why you sent me here? 23 I went to the king and said what you told me to say. But ever since that time he has made the people suffer. And you have done nothing to save them.”
30 “After 40 years Moses was in the desert near Mount Sinai. An angel appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw this, he was amazed. He went near to look closer at it. Moses heard the Lord’s voice. 32 The Lord said, ‘I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[a] Moses began to shake with fear and was afraid to look. 33 The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals. You are standing on holy ground. 34 I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt. I have heard their cries. I have come down to save them. And now, Moses, I am sending you back to Egypt.’[b]
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.