Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Thanksgiving to God
118 Give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good;
his gracious love is eternal.
2 Let Israel now say,
“His gracious love is eternal.”
14 The Lord is my strength and protector,[a]
for he has become my deliverer.[b]
15 There’s exultation[c] for deliverance in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord is victorious![d]
16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted!
The right hand of the Lord is victorious!”[e]
17 I will not die, but I will live
to recount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord will discipline me severely,
but he won’t hand me over to die.
19 Open for me the righteous gates
so I may enter through them to give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate—
The righteous will enter through it.
21 I will praise you because you have answered me
and have become my deliverer.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 This is from the Lord—
it is awesome in our sight.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let’s rejoice and be glad in it.
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelis looked up, and there were the Egyptians bearing down on them! Extremely frightened, the Israelis cried out to the Lord. 11 They also[a] told Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you took us out to die in the desert? What have you done to us, by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is this not what we told you in Egypt, when we said, ‘Leave us alone!’[b] and ‘Let us serve the Egyptians!’? Indeed, it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
13 Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still and watch how the Lord will deliver you today, because you will never again see the Egyptians whom you’re looking at today. 14 The Lord will fight for you while you keep still.”
15 Then the Lord told Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelis to move out! 16 You are to raise your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it, so the Israelis may go into the middle of the sea on dry land. 17 Even now I’m hardening the heart of the Egyptians so they’ll go after the Israelis.[c] Then I’ll receive honor by means of[d] Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I receive honor by means of[e] Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the camp of Israel, moved behind them. The pillar of cloud also[f] moved from in front of them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. The cloud remained there even[g] in the darkness,[h] illuminating the night, so that the one side did not come near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the water to retreat by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. As the waters were divided, 22 the Israelis went into the middle of the sea on dry land, and the waters formed a wall for them on their right and on their left.
23 The Egyptians pursued—all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen—and they went into the middle of the sea after them. 24 In the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian camp through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian camp into confusion. 25 He made the wheels of their chariots wobble[i] so that they drove them with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from Israel because the Lord is fighting for them and against us.”[j]
The Egyptians Drown in the Sea
26 Then the Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea and the water will come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots, and over their horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the water returned to its normal depth at daybreak. The Egyptians tried to retreat in front of the advancing water,[k] but the Lord destroyed[l] the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. 28 The water returned, covering the chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh’s entire army that had pursued the Israelis into the sea. Not a single one of them remained. 29 But the Israelis walked through the middle of the sea on dry land, and the water stood like a wall for them on their right and on their left.
30 On that day the Lord delivered Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead along the seashore. 31 When Israel saw the great force[m] by which the Lord had acted against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed the Lord and Moses his servant.
The Song of Miriam
20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand and went out with all the women behind her with tambourines and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them,
“Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted!
The horse and its rider
he has thrown into the sea.”
5 So put to death your worldly impulses:[a] sexual sin, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6 It is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.[b] 7 You used to behave like them as you lived among them. 8 But now you must also get rid of anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene speech, and all such sins. 9 Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old nature with its practices 10 and have clothed yourselves with the new nature, which is being renewed in full knowledge, consistent with the image of the one who created it. 11 In him[c] there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian,[d] slave, or free person. Instead, the Messiah[e] is all and in all.
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