Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion.
A Prayer of the afflicted when he is weak and [a]pours out his complaint before the Lord.
102 (A)Hear my prayer, Lord!
And let my cry for help (B)come to You.
2 (C)Do not hide Your face from me on the day of my distress;
(D)Incline Your ear to me;
On the day when I call (E)answer me quickly.
3 For my days (F)have ended in smoke,
And my (G)bones have been scorched like a hearth.
4 My heart (H)has been struck like [b]grass and has (I)withered,
Indeed, I (J)forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the [c]loudness of my groaning
My (K)bones [d]cling to my flesh.
6 I resemble a (L)pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl of the ruins.
7 I (M)lie awake,
I have become like a solitary bird on a housetop.
8 My enemies (N)have taunted me all day long;
Those who [e](O)deride me [f]have used my name as a (P)curse.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And (Q)mixed my drink with weeping
10 (R)Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;
For You have (S)lifted me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a [g](T)lengthened shadow,
And [h]I (U)wither away like [i]grass.
12 But You, Lord, [j](V)remain forever,
And Your [k](W)name remains to all generations.
13 You will (X)arise and have (Y)compassion on Zion;
For (Z)it is time to be gracious to her,
For the (AA)appointed time has come.
14 Surely Your servants [l]take pleasure in her stones,
And feel pity for her dust.
15 [m]So the [n](AB)nations will fear the name of the Lord,
And (AC)all the kings of the earth, Your glory.
16 For the Lord has (AD)built up Zion;
He has (AE)appeared in His glory.
17 He has (AF)turned His attention to the prayer of the [o]destitute
And has not despised their prayer.
God Leads the People
17 Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “(A)The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18 Therefore God led the people around by way of the wilderness to the [a]Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up (B)in battle formation from the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took (C)the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will certainly [b]take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.” 20 Then they set out from (D)Succoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And (E)the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they might [c]travel by day and by night. 22 [d]He (F)did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from the presence of the people.
17 “But as the (A)time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, (B)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until (C)another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19 It was he who (D)shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would (E)abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive. 20 At this time (F)Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home. 21 And after he had been put outside, (G)Pharaoh’s daughter [a]took him away and nurtured him as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all (H)the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in [b]speaking and action. 23 But when he was approaching the age of forty, (I)it entered his [c]mind to visit his countrymen, the sons of Israel. 24 And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian. 25 And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them [d]deliverance [e]through him; but they did not understand. 26 (J)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting each other, and he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’ 27 But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘(K)Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28 (L)You do not intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ 29 At this remark, (M)Moses fled and became a stranger in the land of [f]Midian, where he (N)fathered two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, (O)an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came: 32 ‘(P)I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely. 33 (Q)But the Lord said to him, ‘[g](R)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34 (S)I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them; and (T)now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
35 “This Moses whom they (U)disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God [h]sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the [i]help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 (V)This man led them out, performing (W)wonders and [j]signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the (X)wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘(Y)God will raise up for you a prophet [k]like me from your countrymen.’ 38 This is the one who was in (Z)the [l]assembly in the wilderness together with (AA)the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received (AB)living (AC)words to pass on to you. 39 Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they (AD)rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, 40 (AE)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us [m]a god who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’
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