Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

114 Long ago when the Israelis escaped from Egypt, from that land of foreign tongue, ² then the lands of Judah and of Israel became God’s new home and kingdom.

³ The Red Sea saw them coming and quickly broke apart before them. The Jordan River opened up a path for them to cross. ⁴ The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs! ⁵ What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you cut yourself in two? What happened, Jordan River, to your waters? Why were they held back? ⁶ Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, little hills, like lambs?

⁷ Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Jacob. ⁸ For he caused gushing streams to burst from flinty rock.

14 Jehovah now instructed Moses, ² “Tell the people to turn toward Piha-hiroth between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon, and to camp there along the shore. ³ For Pharaoh will think, ‘Those Israelites are trapped now, between the desert and the sea!’ ⁴ And once again I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and he will chase after you. I have planned this to gain great honor and glory over Pharaoh and all his armies, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.”

So they camped where they were told.

⁵ When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelis were not planning to return to Egypt after three days, but to keep on going, Pharaoh and his staff became bold again. “What is this we have done, letting all these slaves get away?” they asked. ⁶ So Pharaoh led the chase in his chariot, ⁷ followed by the pick of Egypt’s chariot corps—600 chariots in all—and other chariots driven by Egyptian officers. ⁸ He pursued the people of Israel, for they had taken much of the wealth of Egypt with them. ⁹ Pharaoh’s entire cavalry—horses, chariots, and charioteers—was used in the chase; and the Egyptian army overtook the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Piha-hiroth, across from Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ As the Egyptian army approached, the people of Israel saw them far in the distance, speeding after them, and they were terribly frightened and cried out to the Lord to help them.

¹¹ And they turned against Moses, whining, “Have you brought us out here to die in the desert because there were not enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave Egypt? ¹² Isn’t this what we told you, while we were slaves, to leave us alone? We said it would be better to be slaves to the Egyptians than dead in the wilderness.”

¹³ But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch, and you will see the wonderful way the Lord will rescue you today. The Egyptians you are looking at—you will never see them again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t need to lift a finger!”^[a]

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Quit praying and get the people moving! Forward, march! ¹⁶ Use your rod—hold it out over the water, and the sea will open up a path before you, and all the people of Israel shall walk through on dry ground! ¹⁷ I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in after you and you will see the honor I will get in defeating Pharaoh and all his armies, chariots, and horsemen. ¹⁸ And all Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah.”

⁹ These men were very jealous of Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him, ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all of his anguish, and gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all Egypt, as well as putting him in charge of all the affairs of the palace.

¹¹ “But a famine developed in Egypt and Canaan, and there was great misery for our ancestors. When their food was gone, ¹² Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons^[a] to buy some. ¹³ The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his brothers’ families to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ So Jacob came to Egypt, where he died, and all his sons. ¹⁶ All of them were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham bought from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father.