Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 When the Israelites went out of Egypt,
the people of Jacob left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place;
Israel became the land he ruled.
3 The Red Sea looked and ran away;
the Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains danced like sheep
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like sheep?
Hills, why did you dance like little lambs?
7 Earth, shake with fear before the Lord,
before the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard rock into a spring of water.
The Way Out of Egypt
17 When the king sent the people out of Egypt, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was the shortest way. God said, “If they have to fight, 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, because before Joseph died, he had made the Israelites promise to do this. He had said, “When God saves you, remember to carry my bones with you out of Egypt.”
20 The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham, 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 he was in a pillar of fire to give them light. In this way 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.
We Must Love Each Other
11 This is the teaching you have heard from the beginning: We must love each other. 12 Do not be like Cain who belonged to the Evil One and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because the things Cain did were evil, and the things his brother did were good.
13 Brothers and sisters, do not be surprised when the people of the world hate you. 14 We know we have left death and have come into life because we love each other. Whoever does not love is still dead. 15 Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer,[a] and you know that no murderers have eternal life in them. 16 This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.