Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A prayer by the afflicted man who is overwhelmed and talks about his troubles with the Lord.
A Prayer for Help
102 Lord, hear my prayer!
May my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in trouble.
Listen to me.
When I call to out you,
hurry to answer me!
3 For my days are vanishing like smoke;
my bones are charred as in a fireplace.
4 Withered like grass, my heart is overwhelmed,
and I have even forgotten to eat my food.
5 Because of the sound of my sighing,
my bones cling to my skin.
6 I resemble a pelican in the wilderness
or an owl in a desolate land.
7 I lie awake,
yet I am like a bird isolated on a rooftop.
8 My enemies revile me all day long;
those who ridicule me use my name to curse.
9 I have eaten ashes as food
and mixed my drink with tears
10 because of your indignation and wrath,
when you lifted and threw me away.
11 My life is[a] like a declining shadow,
and I am withering like a plant.
12 But you, Lord, are enthroned forever;
You are remembered throughout all generations.
13 You will arise to extend compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show her favor—
the appointed time has come.
14 Your servants take pleasure in its stones
and delight in its debris.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth, your splendor.
16 When the Lord rebuilds Zion,
he will appear in his glory.
17 He will turn to the prayer of the destitute,
not despising their prayer.
God Guides the People in the Desert
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearer, because God had said, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people the roundabout way of the desert toward the Reed[a] Sea. The Israelis went up from the land of Egypt in military formation.[b] 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph[c] had made the Israelis take this solemn oath: “God will certainly take notice of you, and then you must carry my bones up with you from here.” 20 They left Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the desert. 21 The Lord went in front of them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so they could travel both day and night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
17 “Now as the time approached for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people’s population increased a great deal in Egypt. 18 Eventually, a different king who had not known Joseph became ruler of Egypt.[a] 19 By shrewdly scheming against our people, he oppressed our ancestors and forced them to abandon their infants to the elements, so that they wouldn’t live.
20 “At this time Moses was born. He was beautiful in the sight of God, and for three months he was cared for in his father’s house. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 So Moses learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man, both in words and in deeds.
23 “When he was 40 years old, he decided[b] to visit his brothers, the descendants of Israel. 24 When he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended him[c] and avenged the man who was being mistreated by killing the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t understand. 26 The next day, he presented himself to some of them while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why should you be hurting another?’
27 “But the man who was harming his neighbor pushed Moses[d] away and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 You don’t want to kill me like you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’[e] 29 Because of this, Moses fled and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There he had two sons.
30 “After 40 years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached the bush[f] to look at it, the voice of the Lord said,[g] 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’[h] Moses became terrified and didn’t dare to look. 33 Then the Lord told him, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I’ve heard their groans, and I’ve come down to rescue them. Now come, I’ll send you to Egypt.’[i]
35 “This same Moses—whom they rejected by saying, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’[j]—was the man whom God sent to be both their ruler and deliverer with the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. 36 It was he who led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for 40 years. 37 It was this Moses who told the Israelis, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you from among your own brothers, just as he did[k] me.’[l] 38 This Moses[m] is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and to our ancestors. He received living truths to give to us,[n] 39 but our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and wished to return to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead us. This Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we don’t know what happened to him!’[o]
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