Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Works and Word
For the director of music. A song of David.
19 The heavens tell the glory of God.
And the skies announce what his hands have made.
2 Day after day they tell the story.
Night after night they tell it again.
3 They have no speech or words.
They don’t make any sound to be heard.
4 But their message goes out through all the world.
It goes everywhere on earth.
The sky is like a home for the sun.
5 The sun comes out like a bridegroom from his bedroom.
It rejoices like an athlete eager to run a race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the sky,
and it follows its path to the other end.
Nothing hides from its heat.
7 The Lord’s teachings are perfect.
They give new strength.
The Lord’s rules can be trusted.
They make plain people wise.
8 The Lord’s orders are right.
They make people happy.
The Lord’s commands are pure.
They light up the way.
9 It is good to respect the Lord.
That respect will last forever.
The Lord’s judgments are true.
They are completely right.
10 They are worth more than gold,
even the purest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even the finest honey.
11 They tell your servant what to do.
Keeping them brings great reward.
12 No one can see all his own mistakes.
Forgive me for my secret sins.
13 Keep me from the sins that I want to do.
Don’t let them rule me.
Then I can be pure
and free from the greatest of sins.
14 I hope my words and thoughts please you.
Lord, you are my Rock, the one who saves me.
9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud. I will speak to you. The people will hear me talking to you. I will do this so the people will always trust you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and have them spend today and tomorrow preparing themselves. They must wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the day after tomorrow. On that day I, the Lord, will come down on Mount Sinai. And all the people will see me. 12 But you must set a limit around the mountain. The people are not to cross it. Tell the people not to go up on the mountain. Tell them not to touch the foot of it. Anyone who touches the mountain must be put to death. 13 He must be put to death with stones or shot with arrows. No one is allowed to touch him. Whether it is a person or an animal, he will not live. But the trumpet will make a long blast. Only then may the people go up on the mountain.”
14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He made them prepare themselves for service to God. And the people washed their clothes. 15 Then Moses said to the people, “Be ready in three days. Do not have physical relations during this time.”
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.’[a] 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.’[b]
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?’[c] 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.’[d] 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.’[e]
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.