Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

This is a song that David wrote.

It is for the music leader.

God understands me^[a]

⁹ The Egyptian soldiers followed after the Israelites to catch them. They went with all Pharaoh's horses, chariots and officers. The Egyptian army reached the place where the Israelites had put up their tents. That was beside the sea, near Pi-Hahiroth, across from Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh came nearer, the Israelites looked up. They saw that the Egyptian army had followed them. The Israelites became very afraid. They called loudly to the Lord to help them. ¹¹ They said to Moses, ‘Why have you brought us here, to die in the desert? Surely there were enough places in Egypt to bury dead people! You should never have brought us out of Egypt! ¹² We said to you in Egypt, “Leave us alone. Let us work for the Egyptians.” It would have been better for us to be their slaves than to die here in the desert!’

¹³ Then Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid! Be brave! You will see how the Lord will save you today. Look at the Egyptians over there. You will never see them again! ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you. You will only have to watch.’

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not continue to call to me for help! Tell the Israelites to move on. ¹⁶ You yourself must do this: Lift up your stick and hold your hand out over the sea. The water will become two separate parts. Then the Israelites can cross through the middle of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ This is what I, the Lord, will do: I will cause the minds of the Egyptians to become hard. They will follow the Israelites into the sea to catch them. I will show how great I am when I win against Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, his horses and their riders. ¹⁸ When I do that, the Egyptians will know that I really am the Lord. They will know that I am great.’

¹⁹ The angel of God had been leading the army of the Israelites. Now he moved and he went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved and it stood behind the army. ²⁰ It stood between the Egyptian army and the Israelite army. During the whole night, the Egyptians were in the dark, because of the cloud. But the cloud gave light to the Israelites. So the two armies did not come near to each other during the whole night.

²¹ Then Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. During that whole night, the Lord made a strong wind blow from the east. This caused the sea to become two separate parts. The ground between the water became dry land. ²² So the Israelites walked on the dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side.

²³ The Egyptians followed the Israelites into the middle of the sea to catch them. All Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and their riders did this. ²⁴ Just before dawn, the Lord looked down from the pillar of cloud with fire in it. He saw the Egyptian army and he made them become confused. ²⁵ He stopped the wheels of their chariots, so that the Egyptians could not drive them properly. So the Egyptians said, ‘Let us run away from the Israelite army! It is the Lord who fights for them against Egypt.’

Jesus tells a story about a tree and its fruit

¹⁵ ‘Some people say that they are prophets from God. But their words are false. They seem to be like sheep that are not dangerous. But they are really like hungry wild dogs. What they teach will hurt you.

¹⁶ You will know these people by the way that they live. The things that they do are like their fruit. Grapes do not grow on thorn bushes. Figs do not grow on weeds.^{[a] 17} Good fruit grows on a tree that is good. Bad fruit grows on a tree that is not good. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot make bad fruit. A bad tree cannot make good fruit. ¹⁹ A farmer will cut down any tree that does not make good fruit. He will burn it on a fire. ²⁰ In the same way, look at the way people live. Then you will know what they are really like.