Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 102
The Afflicted Ruler
Heading
A prayer for an afflicted person who is weary and pours out his complaints before the Lord.
Opening Plea
1 O Lord, hear my prayer,
and let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me on the day when I am distressed.
Turn your ear to me on the day I call.
Hurry! Answer me!
The Shortness of His Days
3 For my days go up in smoke,
and my bones are burned like hot coals.
4 My heart is cut down and withered like grass,
so I forget to eat my food.
5 Because of the sound of my groaning, my bones stick out of my flesh.
6 I am like an owl in the wilderness,
like a screech owl[a] among the ruins.
7 I lie awake.
I have become like a lonely bird on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me.
Those who ridicule me use my name as a curse,
9 because I eat ashes like bread,
and I mix tears with my drinks.
10 Because of your rage and your wrath,
you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are being stretched out like a shadow,
and I am dried up like grass.
God’s Endless Years
12 But you, Lord, sit on your throne forever,
and you will be remembered through all generations.
13 You will rise and have compassion on Zion.
Yes, it is time to be gracious to her,
because the appointed time has come.
14 Yes, your servants will show favor to her stones,
and they will have compassion on her dust.
15 Then the nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion.
He will appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the naked.
He will not despise their prayer.
Pillars of Cloud and Fire
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by the way that goes to the land of the Philistines, although it was more direct, for God said, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people by the way that goes through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.[a] The Israelites went up from the land of Egypt in battle formation.
19 Moses also took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. Joseph had said, “God will surely come to your aid. Then you must bring up my bones with you from Egypt.” 20 They set out from Sukkoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 21 The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on their way and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light. In this way they could travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.
17 “As the time approached that God spoke about in the promise he had made[a] to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt. 18 This continued until another king who knew nothing about Joseph became ruler of Egypt. 19 He took advantage of our people in a cunning way, and he mistreated our fathers by forcing them to get rid of their babies so that they would not survive.[b]
Stephen Defends Himself
20 “At that time, Moses was born, and he was favored by God. For three months he was cared for in his father’s house. 21 After he was placed outside,[c] Pharaoh’s daughter took him in and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in his words and actions.
23 “But when he was forty years old, it entered his mind to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. 24 When he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended him and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He thought that his brothers would understand that God was giving them deliverance by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 The next day, he came across two of them while they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you harming each other?’ 27 But the one who was harming his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[d] 29 At this remark, Moses fled and lived as an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord[e] appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flames of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went closer to look, the voice of the Lord said, 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of[f] Jacob.’[g] Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning. I have come down to rescue them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt.’[h]
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected by saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ This is the one whom God sent to be a ruler and deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This is the one who led the people out, as he performed wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the people of Israel, ‘God[i] will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’[j] 38 This is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers. He received living messages to give to us, 39 but our fathers refused to obey him. Instead they pushed him away and turned back, in their hearts, to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him.’[k]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.