Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer of the poor in spirit, when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
1 ¶ Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
2 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as in a hearth.
4 My heart is smitten and withered like grass so that I forget to eat my bread.
5 By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.
7 I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
8 My enemies reproach me all the day, and those that are mad against me are sworn against me.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping,
10 because of thine indignation and thy wrath; for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down.
11 My days are like a shadow that declines, and I am withered like grass.
12 ¶ But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever and thy remembrance unto all generations.
13 Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favour her, the set time, is come.
14 For thy slaves love her stones and have compassion on the dust thereof.
15 So the Gentiles shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory
16 because the LORD shall have built up Zion, and he shall be seen in his glory.
17 He shall have regarded the prayer of those who are alone and destitute and not despised their prayer.
17 ¶ And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go that God did not lead them through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt;
18 but God led the people round about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the sons of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.
19 And Moses also took the bones of Joseph with him, who had made the sons of Israel swear, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away from here with you.
20 And they took their journey from Succoth and encamped in Etham in the edge of the wilderness.
21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light that they might walk by day and by night.
22 He never took away the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
17 ¶ But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
18 until another king arose, who did not know Joseph.
19 The same dealt subtly with our kindred and mistreated our fathers so that they exposed their babies to death, to the end that the generation would cease.
20 In which time Moses was born and was beautiful to God and was nourished in his father’s house three months;
21 and when he was put in danger, Pharaoh’s daughter took him in and nourished him as her own son.
22 And Moses was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in his words and deeds.
23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the sons of Israel.
24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and smote the Egyptian, avenging the oppressed;
25 for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God was to give them saving health by his hand, but they had not understood.
26 And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove and urged them to peace, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?
28 Wilt thou kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday?
29 Then Moses fled at this word and became a sojourner in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
30 ¶ And when forty years were expired, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the vision; and as he drew near to consider it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
32 saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled and dared not to behold.
33 Then the Lord said to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet; for the place where thou dost stand is holy ground.
34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
35 This Moses, whom they had refused, saying, Who made thee a prince and a judge? the same did God send as prince and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36 He brought them out, showing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.
37 This is that Moses, who said unto the sons of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me; him shall ye hear.
38 This is he, who was in the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him in the Mount Sinai and with our fathers, who received the oracles of life to give unto us;
39 to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
40 saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us; for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
Copyright © 2013, 2020 by Ransom Press International