Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 102
A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and let my cry come unto You.
2 Do not hide Your face from me
in the day when I am in trouble;
incline Your ear to me;
in the day when I call answer me quickly.
3 For my days are consumed like smoke,
and my bones are burned as a furnace.
4 My heart is struck down and withered like grass,
so that I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the sound of my groaning
my bones cling to my skin.
6 I am like an owl of the wilderness,
like a screech owl of the desert.
7 I stay awake and am
as a sparrow alone upon the housetop.
8 My enemies reproach me all the day,
and those who taunt me curse my name.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread
and mixed my drink with weeping,
10 because of Your indignation and Your wrath,
for You have lifted me up, and cast me down.
11 My days are like an evening shadow that vanishes,
and I wither away like grass.
12 But You, O Lord, shall endure forever enthroned
and Your reputation to all generations.
13 You shall arise, and have mercy upon Zion,
for the time to favor her,
indeed, the appointed time has come.
14 For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
and have pity on her dust.
15 So the nations shall fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth Your glory.
16 For the Lord shall build up Zion;
He shall appear in His glory.
17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute
and will not despise their prayer.
The Route of the Exodus
17 Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them through the way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearby. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt.” 18 Therefore, God led the people around, through the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up prepared for war out of the land of Egypt.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely attend to you, and you shall carry my bones away from here with you.”
20 They took their journey from Sukkoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. 22 He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
17 “When the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 until another king rose up who did not know Joseph.[a] 19 He dealt deceitfully with our people and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to put out their young children, that they might not live.
20 “At that time Moses was born, and was fair in the sight of God. And he was reared for three months in his father’s house. 21 When he was put out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and reared him as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in words and in deeds.
23 “When he was forty years old, it came to his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. 24 But seeing one being wronged, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 On the next day he appeared to them as they fought and tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’[b]
27 “But the one wronging his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Will you kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[c] 29 Moses fled at this word and became a sojourner in the land of Midian,[d] where he became the father of two sons.
30 “When forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.[e] 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he drew near to look at it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’[f] Moses trembled and dared not look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.[g] 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt. I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt.’[h]
35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?’[i] God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
37 “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear.’[j] 38 This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living oracles to give to us, 39 whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust away. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods to go before us. For we do not know what has become of this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt.’[k]
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.