Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song. A Psalm of Asaph
A Plea for Judgment
83 God, do not rest!
Don’t be silent!
Don’t stay inactive, God!
2 See! Your enemies rage;
those who hate you issue threats.[a]
3 They plot against[b] your people
and conspire against your cherished ones.
4 They say, “Let us go and erase them as a nation
so the name of Israel will not be remembered anymore.”
13 God, set them up like dried thistles,
like straw before the wind.
14 Like a fire burning a forest,
and a flame setting mountains ablaze.
15 Pursue them with your storm and
terrify them with your whirlwind.
16 Fill their faces with shame
until they seek your name, God.
17 Let them be humiliated and terrified permanently
until they die in shame.[a]
18 Then they will know that you alone—
whose name is Lord—
are the Most High over all the earth.
Pharaoh Refuses to Let the People Go
5 After Moses and Aaron arrived, they told Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Let my people go so they may make a pilgrimage for me in the desert.’”
2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should listen to[a] him and let Israel go? I don’t know about[b] the Lord, nor will I let Israel go!”
3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God so he does not strike us with pestilence or sword.”[c]
4 The king of Egypt replied to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you keeping the people from their labor? Go back to your work!”[d] 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people in the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”[e]
Pharaoh Increases the Israelis’ Work
6 That day Pharaoh ordered the taskmasters of the people and their officials, 7 “You’re no longer to give the people straw for making bricks, as in the past.[f] They must gather straw for themselves. 8 But you’re to impose the previous quota[g] of bricks that they’re making. You’re not to reduce it! It is because they’re lazy that they’re crying out, ‘Let’s go offer sacrifices to our God.’ 9 So increase the work load on the people,[h] and let them do it so they don’t pay attention to deceptive speeches.”
10 Then the taskmasters of the people and their officials went out and told the people, “This is Pharaoh’s response: ‘I’ll no longer give you any[i] straw. 11 Go get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work quotas won’t be reduced at all.’”[j] 12 So the people scattered throughout the entire land of Egypt to collect stubble[k] for straw.
13 The taskmasters pressured them by saying, “Finish your work—each day’s quota[l]—just as when you were given straw.”[m]
14 The Israeli supervisors whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had appointed over them were beaten and told,[n] “Why didn’t you, both yesterday and today, fulfill[o] your quota[p] for making bricks as before?”
The Israelis’ Appeal Rejected by Pharaoh
15 The Israeli supervisors came and cried out to Pharaoh, “Why are you doing this to us?[q] 16 No straw is being given to us, yet they’re saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, we are being beaten. It’s wrong how you are treating your people!”
17 Then Pharaoh[r] said, “You are lazy, lazy! That’s why[s] you’re saying, ‘Let’s go offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ 18 Now, go! Get to work! And straw won’t be given to you, but you are to deliver the same[t] number of bricks!” 19 The Israeli supervisors realized they were in trouble when he said,[u] “You won’t reduce each day’s quota of bricks!”[v]
The Israelis Blame Moses and Moses Complains to God
20 As they left Pharaoh’s presence,[w] they met Moses and Aaron standing there.[x] 21 The supervisors[y] told them, “May the Lord look on you and judge you![z] You have made us repulsive to[aa] Pharaoh and his servants. You have put[ab] a sword in their hands to kill us.”
22 So Moses returned to the Lord and asked him, “Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? Why have you sent me here? 23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has caused trouble for this people, and you have done nothing to deliver your people.”
God Promises to Deliver Israel
6 The Lord told Moses, “Now you’re about to see what I’ll do to Pharaoh. Indeed, he’ll send them out under compulsion[ac] and he’ll drive them out of his land violently.”[ad]
2 Later, God told Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty,[ae] and did I not reveal to them my name ‘Lord’? 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as resident aliens for a time. 5 Also, I’ve heard the groaning of the Israelis whom the Egyptians have forced to labor for them, and I’ve remembered my covenant. 6 Therefore, tell the Israelis, ‘I am the Lord. I’ll bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I’ll deliver you from their bondage. I’ll redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.[af] 7 I’ll take you for my own people,[ag] and I’ll be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I’ll bring you to the land that I swore[ah] to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I’ll give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”
9 Then Moses reported this to the Israelis, but they did not listen to Moses due to their irritation and impatience because there was no deliverance[ai] and because of the cruel bondage.
10 Then the Lord told Moses, 11 “Go, speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he should let the Israelis go out of his land.”
12 Then Moses said right in front of the Lord, “Look, the Israelis didn’t listen to me, so how will Pharaoh? I’m not a persuasive speaker.”[aj] 13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, issuing orders to them regarding the Israelis for delivery to Pharaoh, king of Egypt; that is, to bring the Israelis out of the land of Egypt.
The Letter to the Church in Philadelphia
7 “To the messenger[a] of the church in Philadelphia, write:
‘The one who is holy, who is true,
who has the key of David,
who opens a door that[b] no one can shut,
and who shuts a door that[c] no one can open,
‘says this:
8 ‘I know what you’ve been doing. Look! I have put in front of you an open door that no one can shut. You have only a little strength, but you have obeyed my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who belong to the synagogue of Satan—those who claim to be Jews and aren’t, but are lying—come and bow down at your feet. Then they will realize that I have loved you. 10 Because you have obeyed my command to endure,[d] I will keep you from the hour of testing that is coming to the whole world to test those living on the earth. 11 I am coming soon! Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your victor’s crown. 12 I will make the one who overcomes[e] to become a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and he will never go out of it again. I will write on him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God), and my own new name.
13 ‘Let everyone[f] listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
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