Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Request to Act against Israel’s Neighbors
A song. A psalm of Asaph.[a]
83 O God, do not rest silently.
Do not keep silent or be still, O God.
2 For look, your enemies roar,
and those who hate you have lifted their head.
3 They devise cunning schemes[b] against your people,
and consult together against your protected ones.[c]
4 They say, “Come, let us annihilate them from being a nation,
so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
13 O my God, make them like the tumbleweed,
like the chaff before wind.
14 As fire burns a forest,
and as a flame sets afire mountains,
15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Yahweh.
17 Let them be ashamed and terrified forever,
and let them be humiliated and perish
18 that they may know that you,
whose name is Yahweh, you alone,
are the Most High over the whole earth.
Pharaoh Rejects Yahweh’s Authority and Makes Israel’s Troubles Worse
5 And afterward, Moses and Aaron went, and they said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a festival for me in the desert.’” 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to his voice to release Israel? I do not know Yahweh, and also I will not release Israel.”
3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day journey into the desert, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he strike us with plague or with sword.” 4 And the king of Egypt said, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take[a] the people from their work? Go to your forced labor!”[b] 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you want to stop them from their forced labor.”[c]
6 And on that day Pharaoh commanded the slave drivers over the people and his foremen, saying, 7 “You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like before.[d] Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of the bricks that they were making before[e] you must require of them.[f] You must not reduce from it, because they are lazy. Therefore they are crying out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let the work be heavier on the men so that they will do it and not pay attention to words of deception.”
10 And the slave drivers of the people and their foremen went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not giving you straw. 11 You go, get straw for yourselves from whatever you find because not a thing is being reduced from your work.’” 12 And the people spread out in all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for the straw. 13 And the slave drivers were insisting, saying, “Finish your work for each day[g] on its day, as when there was straw.”[h] 14 And the foremen of the Israelites,[i] whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had appointed over them, were beaten by men who were saying, “Why have you not completed your portion of brickmaking as before, both yesterday and today?”[j]
The Foremen Complain to Pharaoh and Moses, and Moses Complains to Yahweh
15 And the foremen of the Israelites[k] came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 Straw is not being given to your servants, but they are saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ and, look, your servants are being beaten, but it is the fault of[l] your people.” 17 And he said, “You are lazy, lazy! Therefore you are saying, ‘Let us go; let us sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 And now go, work, but straw will not be given to you, and you must give the full quota of bricks.”
19 And the foremen of the Israelites[m] saw they were in trouble with the saying,[n] “You will not reduce from your bricks for each day[o] on its day.” 20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them when they were going out from Pharaoh. 21 And they said to them, “May Yahweh look upon you and judge because you have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants so as to put a sword into their hand to kill us.” 22 And Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble to this people? Why ever did you send me? 23 And from the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble to this people, and you have certainly not delivered your people.”
Yahweh Discusses His Name and Israel’s Future
6 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, because with a strong hand he will release them, and with a strong hand he will drive them out from his land.”
2 And God spoke to Moses, and he said to him, “I am Yahweh. 3 And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Shaddai,[p] but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. 4 And I not only established my covenant with them to give to them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, in which they dwelt as aliens, 5 but also I myself heard the groaning of the Israelites,[q] whom the Egyptians are making to work, and I remembered my covenant. 6 Therefore say to the Israelites,[r] ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the forced labor[s] of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great punishments. 7 And I will take you as my people,[t] and I will be your God,[u] and you will know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the forced labor[v] of Egypt. 8 And I will bring you to the land that I swore[w] to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.”
9 And Moses spoke thus to the Israelites,[x] but they did not listen to Moses, because of discouragement[y] and because of hard work.
10 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Go, speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and let him release the Israelites[z] from his land.” 12 And Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, “Look, the Israelites[aa] do not listen to me, and how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am a poor speaker?”[ab] 13 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and he commanded them to go to the Israelites[ac] and to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites[ad] out from the land of Egypt.
The Letter to the Church in Philadelphia
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
“This is what the holy one, the true one, the one who has the key of David, the one who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one can open, says: 8 ‘I know your works (behold, I have put before you an opened door that no one is able to shut[a]) that you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and did not deny my name. 9 Behold, I am causing those of the synagogue of Satan, the ones who call themselves Jews and are not, but are lying—behold, I will make them come[b] and kneel down before your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept the word of my patient endurance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole inhabited world, to put to the test those who live on the earth. 11 I am coming quickly! Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may take away your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go outside again, and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God, and my new name. 13 The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
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