Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

42 As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, O God. ² I thirst for God, the living God. Where can I find him to come and stand before him? ³ Day and night I weep for his help, and all the while my enemies taunt me. “Where is this God of yours?” they scoff.

^4-5 Take courage, my soul! Do you remember those times (but how could you ever forget them!) when you led a great procession to the Temple on festival days, singing with joy, praising the Lord? Why then be downcast? Why be discouraged and sad? Hope in God! I shall yet praise him again. Yes, I shall again praise him for his help.^[a]

⁶ Yet I am standing here depressed and gloomy, but I will meditate upon your kindness to this lovely land where the Jordan River flows and where Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar stand. ⁷ All your waves and billows have gone over me, and floods of sorrow pour upon me like a thundering cataract.^[b]

⁸ Yet day by day the Lord also pours out his steadfast love upon me, and through the night I sing his songs and pray to God who gives me life.

⁹ “O God my Rock,” I cry, “why have you forsaken me? Why must I suffer these attacks from my enemies?” ¹⁰ Their taunts pierce me like a fatal wound; again and again they scoff, “Where is that God of yours?” ¹¹ But, O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God!

¹³ The next day Moses sat as usual to hear the people’s complaints against each other, from morning to evening.

¹⁴ When Moses’ father-in-law saw how much time this was taking, he said, “Why are you trying to do all this alone, with people standing here all day long to get your help?”

^15-16 “Well, because the people come to me with their disputes, to ask for God’s decisions,” Moses told him. “I am their judge, deciding who is right and who is wrong, and instructing them in God’s ways. I apply the laws of God to their particular disputes.”

¹⁷ “It’s not right!” his father-in-law exclaimed. ¹⁸ “You’re going to wear yourself out—and if you do, what will happen to the people? Moses, this job is too heavy a burden for you to try to handle all by yourself. ^19-20 Now listen, and let me give you a word of advice, and God will bless you: Be these people’s lawyer—their representative before God—bringing him their questions to decide; you will tell them his decisions, teaching them God’s laws, and showing them the principles of godly living.

²¹ “Find some capable, godly, honest men who hate bribes, and appoint them as judges, one judge for each 1000 people; he in turn will have ten judges under him, each in charge of a hundred; and under each of them will be two judges, each responsible for the affairs of fifty people; and each of these will have five judges beneath him, each counseling ten persons. ²² Let these men be responsible to serve the people with justice at all times. Anything that is too important or complicated can be brought to you. But the smaller matters they can take care of themselves. That way it will be easier for you because you will share the burden with them. ²³ If you follow this advice, and if the Lord agrees, you will be able to endure the pressures, and there will be peace and harmony in the camp.”

²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law’s advice and followed this suggestion. ²⁵ He chose able men from all over Israel and made them judges over the people—thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ²⁶ They were constantly available to administer justice. They brought the hard cases to Moses but judged the smaller matters themselves.

²⁷ Soon afterwards Moses let his father-in-law return to his own land.

¹⁵ Some, of course, are preaching the Good News because they are jealous of the way God has used me. They want reputations as fearless preachers! But others have purer motives, ^16-17 preaching because they love me, for they know that the Lord has brought me here to use me to defend the Truth. And some preach to make me jealous, thinking that their success will add to my sorrows here in jail! ¹⁸ But whatever their motive for doing it, the fact remains that the Good News about Christ is being preached, and I am glad.

¹⁹ I am going to keep on being glad, for I know that as you pray for me, and as the Holy Spirit helps me, this is all going to turn out for my good. ²⁰ For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that will cause me to be ashamed of myself but that I will always be ready to speak out boldly for Christ while I am going through all these trials here, just as I have in the past; and that I will always be an honor to Christ, whether I live or whether I must die. ²¹ For to me, living means opportunities for Christ, and dying—well, that’s better yet!