Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 83[a]
A song, a psalm of Asaph.
83 O God, do not be silent.
Do not ignore us.[b] Do not be inactive, O God.
2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;
those who hate you are hostile.[c]
3 They carefully plot[d] against your people,
and make plans to harm[e] the ones you cherish.[f]
4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation.[g]
Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
13 O my God, make them like dead thistles,[a]
like dead weeds blown away by[b] the wind.
14 Like the fire that burns down the forest,
or the flames that consume the mountainsides,[c]
15 chase them with your gale winds,
and terrify[d] them with your windstorm.
16 Cover[e] their faces with shame,
so they might seek[f] you,[g] O Lord.
17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified.[h]
May they die in shame.[i]
18 Then they will know[j] that you alone are the Lord,[k]
the Most High[l] over all the earth.
10 Then Moses said to the Lord,[a] “O[b] my Lord,[c] I am not an eloquent man,[d] neither in the past[e] nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”[f]
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave[g] a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?[h] 12 So now go, and I will be with your mouth[i] and will teach you[j] what you must say.”[k]
13 But Moses said,[l] “O[m] my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!”[n]
14 Then the Lord became angry with[o] Moses, and he said, “What about[p] your brother Aaron the Levite?[q] I know that he can speak very well.[r] Moreover, he is coming[s] to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.[t]
15 “So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth[u] and with his mouth,[v] and I will teach you both[w] what you must do.[x] 16 He[y] will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if[z] he[aa] were your mouth[ab] and as if you were his God.[ac] 17 You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.”[ad]
The Return of Moses
18 [ae] So Moses went back[af] to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Let me go, so that I may return[ag] to my relatives[ah] in Egypt and see[ai] if they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back[aj] to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”[ak] 20 Then Moses took[al] his wife and sons[am] and put them on a donkey and headed back[an] to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt,[ao] see that you[ap] do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control.[aq] But I will harden[ar] his heart[as] and[at] he will not let the people go. 22 You must say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord has said, “Israel is my son, my firstborn,[au] 23 and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve[av] me,’ but since you have refused to let him go,[aw] I will surely kill[ax] your son, your firstborn!”’”
24 Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night,[ay] the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him.[az] 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to Moses’ feet,[ba] and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood[bb] to me.” 26 So the Lord[bc] let him alone. (At that time[bd] she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” referring to[be] the circumcision.)
27 The Lord said[bf] to Aaron, “Go to the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God[bg] and greeted him with a kiss.[bh] 28 Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had[bi] sent him and all the signs that he had commanded him. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and brought together all the Israelite elders.[bj] 30 Aaron spoke[bk] all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people, 31 and the people believed. When they heard[bl] that the Lord had attended to[bm] the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground.[bn]
To the Church in Sardis
3 “To[a] the angel of the church in Sardis write the following:[b]
“This is the solemn pronouncement of[c] the one who holds[d] the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a reputation[e] that you are alive, but[f] in reality[g] you are dead. 2 Wake up then, and strengthen what remains that was about[h] to die, because I have not found your deeds complete[i] in the sight[j] of my God. 3 Therefore, remember what you received and heard,[k] and obey it,[l] and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will never[m] know at what hour I will come against[n] you. 4 But you have a few individuals[o] in Sardis who have not stained[p] their clothes, and they will walk with me dressed[q] in white, because they are worthy. 5 The one who conquers[r] will be dressed like them[s] in white clothing,[t] and I will never[u] erase[v] his name from the book of life, but[w] will declare[x] his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
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