Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A prayer of a suffering person who has become weak. They pour out their problems to the Lord.
102 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my cry for help.
2 Don’t turn your face away from me
when I’m in trouble.
Pay attention to me.
When I call out for help, answer me quickly.
3 My days are disappearing like smoke.
My body burns like glowing coals.
4 My strength has dried up like grass.
I even forget to eat my food.
5 I groan out loud because of my suffering.
I’m nothing but skin and bones.
6 I’m like a desert owl.
I’m like an owl among destroyed buildings.
7 I can’t sleep. I’ve become
like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies laugh at me.
Those who make fun of me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes as my food.
My tears fall into what I’m drinking.
10 You were very angry with me.
So you picked me up and threw me away.
11 The days of my life are like an evening shadow.
I dry up like grass.
12 But Lord, you are seated on your throne forever.
Your fame will continue for all time to come.
13 You will rise up and show deep concern for Zion.
The time has come for you to help Zion.
14 The stones of your destroyed city are priceless to us.
Even its dust brings deep concern to us.
15 The nations will worship the Lord.
All the kings on earth will respect his glorious power.
16 The Lord will build Zion again.
He will appear in his glory.
17 He will answer the prayer of those who don’t have anything.
He won’t say no to their cry for help.
Israel Goes Through the Red Sea
17 Pharaoh let the people go. The shortest road from Goshen to Canaan went through the Philistine country. But God didn’t lead them that way. God said, “If they have to go into battle, they might change their minds. They might return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people toward the Red Sea by taking them on a road through the desert. The Israelites were ready for battle when they went up out of Egypt.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph along with him. Joseph had made the Israelites give their word to do this. He had said, “God will surely come to help you. When he does, you must carry my bones up from this place with you.” (Genesis 50:25)
20 The people left Sukkoth. They camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud. It guided them on their way. At night he led them with a pillar of fire. It gave them light. So they could travel by day or at night. 22 The pillar of cloud didn’t leave its place in front of the people during the day. And the pillar of fire didn’t leave its place at night.
17 “In Egypt the number of our people grew and grew. It was nearly time for God to make his promise to Abraham come true. 18 Then ‘a new king came to power in Egypt. Joseph didn’t mean anything to him.’ (Exodus 1:8) 19 The king was very evil and dishonest with our people. He treated them badly. He forced them to throw out their newborn babies to die.
20 “At that time Moses was born. He was not an ordinary child. For three months he was taken care of by his family. 21 Then he was placed outside. But Pharaoh’s daughter took him home. She brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was taught all the knowledge of the people of Egypt. He became a powerful speaker and a man of action.
23 “When Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit the people of Israel. They were his own people. 24 He saw one of them being treated badly by an Egyptian. So he went to help him. He got even by killing the man. 25 Moses thought his own people would realize that God was using him to save them. But they didn’t. 26 The next day Moses saw two Israelites fighting. He tried to make peace between them. ‘Men, you are both Israelites,’ he said. ‘Why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was treating the other one badly pushed Moses to one side. He said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ (Exodus 2:14) 29 When Moses heard this, he escaped to Midian. He lived there as an outsider. He became the father of two sons there.
30 “Forty years passed. Then an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush. This happened in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw the bush, he was amazed. He went over for a closer look. There he heard the Lord say, 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ (Exodus 3:6) Moses shook with fear. He didn’t dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals. You must do this because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have seen my people beaten down in Egypt. I have heard their groans. I have come down to set them free. Now come. I will send you back to Egypt.’ (Exodus 3:5,7,8,10)
35 “This is the same Moses the two men of Israel would not accept. They had said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ But God himself sent Moses to rule the people of Israel and set them free. He spoke to Moses through an angel. The angel had appeared to him in the bush. 36 So Moses led them out of Egypt. He did wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for 40 years in the desert.
37 “This is the same Moses who spoke to the Israelites. ‘God will send you a prophet,’ he said. ‘He will be like me. He will come from your own people.’ (Deuteronomy 18:15) 38 Moses was with the Israelites in the desert. He was with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. Moses was with our people of long ago. He received living words to pass on to us.
39 “But our people refused to obey Moses. They would not accept him. In their hearts, they wished they were back in Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us a god who will lead us. This fellow Moses brought us up out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him!’ (Exodus 32:1)
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