Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song; a psalm by Asaph.
83 O God, do not remain silent.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
Do not keep quiet, O God.
2 Look, your enemies are in an uproar.
Those who hate you hold their heads high.
3 They make plans in secret against your people
and plot together against those you treasure.
4 They say, “Let’s wipe out their nation
so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.”
13 O my God, blow them away like tumbleweeds,[a]
like husks in the wind.
14 Pursue them with your storms,
and terrify them with your windstorms
15 the way fire burns a forest
and flames set mountains on fire.[b]
16 Let their faces blush with shame, O Lord,
so that they must look to you for help.
17 Let them be put to shame and terrified forever.
Let them die in disgrace
18 so that they must acknowledge you.
Your name is the Lord.
You alone are the Most High God of the whole earth.
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I’m not a good speaker. I’ve never been a good speaker, and I’m not now, even though you’ve spoken to me. I speak slowly, and I become tongue-tied easily.”
11 The Lord asked him, “Who gave humans their mouths? Who makes humans unable to talk or hear? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? It is I, the Lord! 12 Now go, and I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
14 Then the Lord became angry with Moses and asked, “What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He’s already on his way to meet you, and he will be very glad to see you. 15 You will speak to him and tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak, and I will teach you both what to do. 16 Aaron will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will be like God. 17 Take that shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to do the miraculous signs.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro. Moses said to him, “Please let me go back to my own people in Egypt. I would like to see if they’re still alive.”
Jethro said to Moses, “You may go.”
19 Now, the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”
20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started out for Egypt. He also brought with him the staff God had told him to take.
21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, see that you show Pharaoh all the amazing things that I have given you the power to do. But I will make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then tell Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son. 23 I told you to let my son go so that he may worship me. But you refused to let him go. So now I’m going to kill your firstborn son.’ ”
24 Along the way they stopped for the night. The Lord met Moses and tried to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet ⌞with it⌟. She said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So the Lord let him alone. It was because of the circumcision that she said at that time, “You are a bridegroom of blood!”
Moses and Aaron Tell the People What the Lord Said
27 Meanwhile, the Lord had told Aaron to meet Moses in the desert.
When Aaron met Moses at the mountain of God, he kissed him. 28 Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say and all the miraculous signs the Lord had commanded him to do.
29 Then Moses and Aaron went ⌞to Egypt⌟ and assembled all the leaders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also did the miraculous signs for the people, 31 and the people believed them. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about the people of Israel and that he had seen their misery, they knelt, bowing with their faces touching the ground.
A Letter to the Church in Sardis
3 “To the messenger of the church in Sardis, write: The one who has God’s seven spirits and the seven stars says:
I know what you have done. You are known for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be alert, and strengthen the things that are left which are about to die. I have found that what you are doing has not been completed in the sight of my God. 3 So remember what you received and heard. Obey, and change the way you think and act. If you’re not alert, I’ll come like a thief. You don’t know when I will come. 4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have kept their clothes clean. They will walk with me in white clothes because they deserve it. 5 Everyone who wins the victory this way will wear white clothes. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge them in the presence of my Father and his angels. 6 Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
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