Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
83 God, don’t remain silent.
Don’t refuse to listen.
Do something, God.
2 See how your enemies are growling like dogs.
See how they are rising up against you.
3 They make clever plans against your people.
They make evil plans against those you love.
4 “Come,” they say. “Let’s destroy that whole nation.
Then the name of Israel won’t be remembered anymore.”
13 My God, make them like straw that the wind blows away.
Make them like tumbleweed.
14 Destroy them as fire burns up a forest.
Destroy them as a flame sets mountains on fire.
15 Chase them with your mighty winds.
Terrify them with your storm.
16 Lord, put them to shame
so that they will seek you.
17 May they always be filled with terror and shame.
May they die in dishonor.
18 May you, the Lord, let your enemies know who you are.
You alone are the Most High God over the whole earth.
10 Moses spoke to the Lord. He said, “Lord, I’ve never been a good speaker. And I haven’t gotten any better since you spoke to me. I don’t speak very well at all.”
11 The Lord said to him, “Who makes human beings able to talk? Who makes them unable to hear or speak? Who makes them able to see? Who makes them blind? It is I, the Lord. 12 Now go. I will help you speak. I will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Lord, please send someone else to do it.”
14 Then the Lord became very angry with Moses. He said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you. He will be glad to see you. 15 Speak to him. Tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak. I will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you. He will be like your mouth. And you will be like God to him. 17 But take this walking stick in your hand. You will be able to do signs with it.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro. He said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt. I want to see if any of them are still alive.”
Jethro said, “Go. I hope everything goes well with you.”
19 The Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt. All those who wanted to kill you are dead.” 20 So Moses got his wife and sons. He put them on a donkey. Together they started back to Egypt. And he took the walking stick in his hand. It was the stick God would use in a powerful way.
21 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “When you return to Egypt, do all the amazing things I have given you the power to do. Do them in the sight of Pharaoh. But I will make him stubborn. He will not let the people go. 22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘The Lord says, “Israel is like an oldest son to me. 23 I told you, ‘Let my son go. Then he will be able to worship me.’ But you refused to let him go. So I will kill your oldest son.” ’ ”
24 On the way to Egypt, Moses stopped for the night. There the Lord met him and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah got a knife made out of flint. She circumcised her son with it. Then she touched Moses’ feet with the skin she had cut off. “Surely, you are a husband who has forced me to spill my son’s blood,” she said. 26 So the Lord didn’t kill Moses. When she said “husband who has forced me to spill my son’s blood,” she was talking about circumcision.
27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to see Moses.” So Aaron greeted Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say. Moses also told him about all the signs the Lord had commanded him to do.
29 Moses and Aaron gathered all the elders of Israel together. 30 Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And they believed. They heard that the Lord was concerned about them. He had seen their suffering. So they bowed down and worshiped him.
The Letter to the Church in Sardis
3 “Here is what I command you to write to the church in Sardis.
Here are the words of Jesus, who holds the seven spirits of God. He has the seven stars in his hand. He says,
‘I know what you are doing. People think you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what is left, or it will die. You have not done all that my God wants you to do. 3 So remember what you have been taught and have heard. Hold firmly to it. Turn away from your sins. If you don’t wake up, I will come like a thief. You won’t know when I will come to you.
4 ‘But you have a few people in Sardis who are pure. They aren’t covered with evil like dirty clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, because they are worthy. 5 Here is what I will do for anyone who has victory over sin. I will dress that person in white like those worthy people. I will never erase their names from the book of life. I will speak of them by name to my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears should listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches.’
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