Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer of Thanks
118 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. 2 Let Israel say, “His loving-kindness lasts forever.”
14 The Lord is my strength and my song. He is the One Who saves me.
15 The joy of being saved is being heard in the tents of those who are right and good. The right hand of the Lord does powerful things. 16 The Lord’s right hand is lifted high. The right hand of the Lord does powerful things. 17 I will not die but live. And I will tell of what the Lord has done. 18 The Lord has punished me but He has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of what is right and good. I will go through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord. Those who are right with God will pass through it. 21 I will give thanks to You, for You have answered me. And You are the One Who saves me.
22 The stone that was put aside by the workmen has become the most important stone in the building. 23 The Lord has done this. We think it is great! 24 This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be full of joy and be glad in it.
10 When Pharaoh came near, the people of Israel looked and saw the Egyptians coming after them. And they were filled with fear and cried out to the Lord. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert? What have you done to us, in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Did we not tell you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die here.”
13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid! Be strong, and see how the Lord will save you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today, you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you. All you have to do is keep still.”
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to keep going. 16 Lift up your special stick and put out your hand over the sea, and divide it. Then the people of Israel will go through the sea on dry land. 17 I will make the Egyptians’ hearts hard, so they will go after them. And I will be honored through Pharaoh and his whole army, his war-wagons and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I am honored through Pharaoh, his war-wagons and his horsemen.” 19 Then the Angel of God, who had been going in front of the army of Israel, moved and went behind them. The cloud moved from the front of them and stood behind them. 20 It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. There was the cloud and the darkness, yet it gave light at night. And the one army did not come near the other all night. 21 Then Moses put out his hand over the sea. And the Lord moved the sea all night by a strong east wind. So the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went through the sea on dry land. The waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left. 23 Then the Egyptians followed them. All Pharaoh’s horses and war-wagons and horsemen went in the sea after them. 24 In the morning hours, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army through the fire and cloud. And He made the Egyptian army afraid. 25 He made the wheels of their war-wagons come off, so it was hard for the wagons to be moved. So the Egyptians said, “Let us run away from Israel. For the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand over the sea. And the waters will flow over the Egyptians, and over their war-wagons and their horsemen.” 27 And when the morning came, the Egyptians ran into the wall of water as the sea returned to the way it was before. The Lord destroyed the Egyptians in the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the war-wagons and the horsemen and Pharaoh’s whole army that had gone in the sea after them. Not even one of them was left. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry land through the sea. The waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left.
30 So the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead beside the sea. 31 Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians. And the people had fear of the Lord. They believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.
20 Then Aaron’s sister Miriam, the woman who spoke for the Lord, took a timbrel in her hand. And all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. 21 Miriam said to them, “Sing to the Lord, for He is praised for His greatness. He has thrown the horse and horseman into the sea.”
The Old Person Put Aside
5 Destroy the desires to sin that are in you. These desires are: sex sins, anything that is not clean, a desire for sex sins, and wanting something someone else has. This is worshiping a god. 6 It is because of these sins that the anger of God comes down on those who do not obey Him. 7 You used to do these sins when you lived that kind of life. 8 Put out of your life these things also: anger, bad temper, bad feelings toward others, talk that hurts people, speaking against God, and dirty talk. 9 Do not lie to each other. You have put out of your life your old ways. 10 You have now become a new person and are always learning more about Christ. You are being made more like Christ. He is the One Who made you. 11 There is no difference in men in this new life. Greeks and Jews are the same. The man who has gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew and the one who has not are the same. There is no difference between nations. Men who are servants and those who are free are the same. Christ is everything. He is in all of us.
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