Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
13 who boasted, “Let us seize for ourselves
the pastures of God.”
14 [a]O my God, treat them like tumbleweed,
like chaff blown before the wind.
15 As a fire rages through a forest,
as a flame sets mountains ablaze,
16 so hound them with your tempests
and terrify them with your stormwinds.[b]
17 Fill their faces with shame
so that they will seek your name,[c] O Lord.
18 [d]Let them be humiliated and terrified forever;
let them be disgraced and perish.
Chapter 5[a]
First Audience of Moses with Pharaoh. 1 Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and proclaimed to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Let my people go so that they might celebrate a feast in the desert.’ ” 2 Pharaoh answered, “Who is the Lord that I should listen to his voice and let Israel leave? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel leave.” 3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has appeared to us. Let us leave for a journey of three days into the desert to celebrate a sacrifice to the Lord, our God, lest he punish us with plague or the sword.”
4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take the people away from their work? Return to your work.” 5 Pharaoh added, “Behold how numerous the people of the land are. Would you have them rest from their labors?”
6 On that day, Pharaoh gave this order to the taskmasters of the people and to his overseers:[b] 7 “Do not give any more straw[c] for making bricks to the people as you previously have. Let them get their own straw. 8 But you must demand that they make the same number of bricks as before, without any reduction. They are lazy. That is why they are protesting, ‘We wish to leave, we must sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let more work be laid upon them so that they keep busy and not pay attention to lies.”
10 The taskmasters of the people and the overseers went out and spoke to the people: “Pharaoh has ordered, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 You can go and gather it for yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work must not decline.’ ”
12 The people scattered all throughout Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 But the taskmasters urged them on saying, “Finish your work, your daily quota, just as when you were given straw.”
14 Complaint of the Overseers. The overseers of the children of Israel, whom the taskmasters of Pharaoh had placed over them, beat them saying, “Why have you not finished your number of bricks today and yesterday like you did before?”
15 The overseers of the children of Israel came to Pharaoh and appealed to him saying, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 You have not given straw to your servants, but you tell them to make bricks. Your servants are beaten and it is the fault of your own people.” 17 He answered, “You are lazy, lazy! This is why you say, ‘We want to leave; we must sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Now go, work! You will not be given straw, but you will produce the same number of bricks.”
19 The overseers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “Do not lower the daily number of bricks.” 20 Upon leaving Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who were waiting for them. 21 They said, “The Lord look upon you and judge, for you have made us hateful to Pharaoh and his ministers. You placed the sword in their hands to kill us.”
22 Renewal of God’s Promise. Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “My Lord, why have you treated this people so badly? Why did you send me? 23 From the time that I went to Pharaoh to speak to him in your name, he has treated this people harshly and you have not done anything to free your people.”
Chapter 6
1 The Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I am about to do to Pharaoh. With a mighty hand he will let them go. With a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.”
Another Account of Moses’ Call.[d] 2 God spoke to Moses and told him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God the all-powerful, but I did not reveal my name, the Lord, to them. 4 I established a covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, that land where they dwelt as aliens.
5 “And now I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel in their bondage to the Egyptians and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Therefore, say to the children of Israel, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out from your forced labor to the Egyptians. I will free you from their slavery and liberate you with an outstretched arm[e] and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord, your God, who will bring you out from your forced labor to the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore with an oath I would give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as an inheritance, for I am the Lord.’ ”
9 Moses said these things to the children of Israel, but they did not listen to him, for they were at the limits of their endurance because of their harsh slavery.[f]
10 The Lord said to Moses: 11 “Go to speak with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so that he will let the children of Israel leave his land.” 12 But Moses said these things in God’s presence, “Behold, the children of Israel have not listened to me; how could Pharaoh listen to me, for I am a man of unskilled speech?”
13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them orders for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the children of Israel leave the land of Egypt.
To Philadelphia.[a] 7 “To the angel of the Church in Philadelphia,[b] write:
“ ‘These are the words of the holy one,
the true one,
who has the key of David,
who opens the door,
and no one can shut it;
who closes the door,
and no one can open it:
8 “ ‘ “I know your deeds. I have set before you an open door[c] that no one will be able to close. I know that your strength is limited, yet you have kept my word and have not disowned my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who claim to be Jews but are not, for they are lying—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and recognize that I have loved you.
10 “ ‘ “Because you have kept my word to endure patiently, I will keep you safe during the time of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to put the inhabitants of the earth to the test. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you already have so that no one may rob you of your crown.
12 “ ‘ “Anyone who is victorious I will make into a pillar in the temple of my God, and never again will he depart from it. I will inscribe on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, as well as my own new name.[d]
13 “ ‘ “Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches.” ’
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