Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
17 Yet they kept on with their rebellion, sinning against the God who is above all gods. 18 They murmured and complained, demanding other food than God was giving them. 19-20 They even spoke against God himself. “Why can’t he give us decent food as well as water?” they grumbled.
52 But he led forth his own people like a flock, guiding them safely through the wilderness. 53 He kept them safe, so they were not afraid. But the sea closed in upon their enemies and overwhelmed them. 54 He brought them to the border of his land of blessing, to this land of hills he made for them. 55 He drove out the nations occupying the land and gave each tribe of Israel its apportioned place as its home.
7 Moses always erected the sacred tent (the “Tent for Meeting with God,” he called it) far outside the camp, and everyone who wanted to consult with Jehovah went out there.
8 Whenever Moses went to the Tabernacle, all the people, when they saw it, stood and would rise and stand in their tent doors. 9 As he entered, the pillar of cloud would come down and stand at the door while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 Then all the people worshiped from their tent doors, bowing low to the pillar of cloud. 11 Inside the tent the Lord spoke to Moses face-to-face, as a man speaks to his friend. Afterwards Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua (son of Nun), stayed behind in the Tabernacle.
12 Moses talked there with the Lord and said to him, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people to the Promised Land,’ but you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You say you are my friend,[a] and that I have found favor before you; 13 please, if this is really so, guide me clearly along the way you want me to travel[b] so that I will understand you and walk acceptably before you. For don’t forget that this nation is your people.”
14 And the Lord replied, “I myself will go with you and give you success.”
15 For Moses had said, “If you aren’t going with us, don’t let us move a step from this place. 16 If you don’t go with us, who will ever know that I and my people have found favor with you, and that we are different from any other people upon the face of the earth?”
17 And the Lord had replied to Moses, “Yes, I will do what you have asked, for you have certainly found favor with me, and you are my friend.”[c]
18 Then Moses asked to see God’s glory.
19 The Lord replied, “I will make my goodness pass before you, and I will announce to you the meaning of my name[d] Jehovah, the Lord. I show kindness and mercy to anyone I want to. 20 But you may not see the glory of my face, for man may not see me and live. 21 However, stand here on this rock beside me. 22 And when my glory goes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed. 23 Then I will remove my hand, and you shall see my back but not my face.”
30 “Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an Angel appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 Moses saw it and wondered what it was, and as he ran to see, the voice of the Lord called out to him, 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors—of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and dared not look.
33 “And the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground. 34 I have seen the anguish of my people in Egypt and have heard their cries. I have come down to deliver them. Come, I will send you to Egypt.’
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.