Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

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.

God Takes Israel from Egypt

114 Israel came out of Egypt. The house of Jacob came from a people who spoke a strange language. ² Then Judah became His holy place, and Israel became the place of His rule.

³ The sea looked and ran away. The Jordan turned back. ⁴ The mountains jumped like sheep, the hills like lambs. ⁵ Why did you try to get away, O sea? Why did you turn back, O Jordan? ⁶ O mountains, why did you jump like sheep? O hills, why did you jump like lambs?

⁷ Shake in fear before the Lord, O earth, before the God of Jacob. ⁸ He changed the rock into a pool of water. He made water flow out of hard rock.

15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for He is praised for His greatness. He has thrown the horse and horseman into the sea. ² The Lord is my strength and song. He is the One Who saves me. He is my God and I will praise Him. He is my father’s God and I will honor Him. ³ The Lord is a fighter. The Lord is His name. ⁴ He has thrown Pharaoh’s war-wagons and army into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s leaders are under the Red Sea. ⁵ The water covers them. They went down in the deep water like a stone. ⁶ O Lord, Your right hand is great in power. O Lord, Your right hand destroys those who hate You. ⁷ In the greatness of Your power You destroy those who fight against You. You send Your burning anger and it burns them like straw. ⁸ The waters were lifted up by Your breath. The flowing waters stood up like a wall. The water became hard in the middle of the sea. ⁹ Those who hated us said, ‘I will go after them. I will catch them. I will divide the riches taken from them. My soul will have its way against them. I will take out my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ ¹⁰ You, Lord, blew with Your wind and the sea covered them. They went down like iron in the powerful sea. ¹¹ Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, great and holy, praised in fear, doing powerful works?

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.”

14 If there is someone whose faith is weak, be kind and receive him. Do not argue about what he thinks. ² One man believes he may eat everything. Another man with weak faith eats only vegetables. ³ The man who eats everything should not think he is better than the one who eats only vegetables. The man who eats only vegetables should not say the other man is wrong, because God has received him. ⁴ Who are you to tell another person’s servant if he is right or wrong? It is to his owner that he does good or bad. The Lord is able to help him.

⁵ One man thinks one day is more important than another. Another man thinks every day is the same. Every man must be sure in his own mind. ⁶ The man who worships on a special day does it to honor the Lord. The man who eats meat does it to honor the Lord. He gives thanks to God for what he eats. The other man does not eat meat. In this way, he honors the Lord. He gives thanks to God also.

⁷ No one lives for himself alone. No one dies for himself alone. ⁸ If we live, it is for the Lord. If we die, it is for the Lord. If we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹ Christ died and lived again. This is why He is the Lord of the living and of the dead. ¹⁰ Why do you try to say your Christian brother is right or wrong? Why do you hate your Christian brother? We will all stand before God to be judged by Him. ¹¹ The Holy Writings say, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me. And every tongue will say that I am God.” ¹² Everyone of us will give an answer to God about himself.

True Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and said, “Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him, up to seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I tell you, not seven times but seventy times seven!

²³ “The holy nation of heaven is like a king who wanted to find out how much money his servants owed him. ²⁴ As he began, one of the servants was brought to him who owed him very much money. ²⁵ He could pay nothing that he owed. So the king spoke the word that he and his wife and his children and all that he had should be sold to pay what he owed. ²⁶ The servant got down on his face in front of the king. He said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you all the money.’ ²⁷ Then the king took pity on his servant and let him go. He told him he did not have to pay the money back.

²⁸ “But that servant went out and found one of the other servants who owed him very little money. He took hold of his neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’ ²⁹ The other servant got down at his feet and said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you all the money.’ ³⁰ But he would not. He had him put in prison until he could pay the money.

³¹ “When his other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. They came and told the king all that was done. ³² Then the king called for the first one. He said, ‘You bad servant! I forgave you. I said that you would not have to pay back any of the money you owed me because you asked me. ³³ Should you not have had pity on the other servant, even as I had pity on you?’ ³⁴ The king was very angry. He handed him over to men who would beat and hurt him until he paid all the money he owed. ³⁵ So will My Father in heaven do to you, if each one of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.”