Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Cry for Help
A prayer of a person who is suffering when he is discouraged and tells the Lord his complaints.
102 Lord, listen to my prayer.
Let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide from me
in my time of trouble.
Pay attention to me.
When I cry for help, answer me quickly.
3 My life is passing away like smoke.
My bones are burned up with fire.
4 My heart is like grass
that has been cut and dried.
I forget to eat.
5 Because of my grief,
my skin hangs on my bones.
6 I am like a desert owl.
I am like an owl living among the ruins.
7 I lie awake.
I am like a lonely bird on a housetop.
8 All day long enemies insult me.
Those who make fun of me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes as my food.
My tears fall into my drinks.
10 Because of your great anger,
you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a passing shadow.
I am like dried grass.
12 But, Lord, you rule forever.
Your fame continues from now on.
13 You will come and have mercy on Jerusalem.
The time has now come to be kind to her.
14 Your servants love even her stones.
They even care about her dust.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord.
All the kings on earth will honor him.
16 The Lord will rebuild Jerusalem.
There his glory will be seen.
17 He will answer the prayers of the needy.
He will not reject their prayers.
The Way Out of Egypt
17 The king sent the people out of Egypt. God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country. That road is the shortest way. But God said, “They might think they will have to fight. Then they might change their minds and go back to Egypt.” 18 So God led them through the desert toward the Red Sea. The Israelites were dressed for fighting when they left the land of Egypt.
19 Moses carried the bones of Joseph with him. Before Joseph died, he had made the sons of Israel promise to do this. He had said, “When God saves you, remember to carry my bones with you out of Egypt.”
20 The people of Israel left Succoth and camped at Etham. Etham was on the edge of the desert. 21 The Lord showed them the way. During the day he went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud. And during the night the Lord was in a pillar of fire to give them light. They could travel during the day or night. 22 The pillar of cloud was always with them during the day. And the pillar of fire was always with them at night.
17 “The number of people in Egypt grew large. There were more and more of our people there. (The promise that God made to Abraham was soon to come true.) 18 Then a new king began to rule Egypt. He did not know who Joseph was. 19 This king tricked our people and was cruel to our ancestors. He forced them to put their babies outside to die. 20 This was the time when Moses was born. He was a fine child. For three months Moses was cared for in his father’s house. 21 When they put Moses outside, the king’s daughter took him. She raised him as if he were her own son. 22 The Egyptians taught Moses all the things they knew. He was a powerful man in the things he said and did.
23 “When Moses was about 40 years old, he thought it would be good to visit his brothers, the people of Israel. 24 Moses saw an Egyptian doing wrong to a Jew. So he defended the Jew and punished the Egyptian for hurting him. Moses killed the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his fellow Jews would understand that God was using him to save them. But they did not understand. 26 The next day, Moses saw two Jewish men fighting. He tried to make peace between them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers! Why are you hurting each other?’ 27 The man who was hurting the other man pushed Moses away. He said, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge? 28 Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[a] 29 When Moses heard him say this, he left Egypt. He went to live in the land of Midian where he was a stranger. While Moses lived in Midian, he had two sons.
30 “After 40 years Moses was in the desert near Mount Sinai. An angel appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw this, he was amazed. He went near to look closer at it. Moses heard the Lord’s voice. 32 The Lord said, ‘I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[b] Moses began to shake with fear and was afraid to look. 33 The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals. You are standing on holy ground. 34 I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt. I have heard their cries. I have come down to save them. And now, Moses, I am sending you back to Egypt.’[c]
35 “This Moses was the same man the Jews said they did not want. They had said to him, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge?’[d] Moses is the same man God sent to be a ruler and savior, with the help of an angel. This was the angel Moses saw in the burning bush. 36 So Moses led the people out of Egypt. He worked miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and then in the desert for 40 years. 37 This is the same Moses that said to the Jewish people: ‘God will give you a prophet like me. He will be one of your own people.’[e] 38 This is the same Moses who was with the gathering of the Jews in the desert. He was with the angel that spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and he was with our ancestors. He received commands from God that give life, and he gave those commands to us.
39 “But our fathers did not want to obey Moses. They rejected him. They wanted to go back to Egypt again. 40 They said to Aaron, ‘Moses led us out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him. So make us gods who will lead us.’[f]
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.