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.
Moses and Aaron Confront Pharaoh
5 Later Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Let my people go into the desert to celebrate a festival in my honor.”
2 Pharaoh asked, “Who is the Lord? Why should I obey him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I won’t let Israel go.”
3 They replied, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t go, he may kill us with a plague or a war.”
4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their work? Get back to work!” 5 Then Pharaoh added, “Look how many people there are in the land! Do you want them to quit working?”
Pharaoh Increases the Israelites’ Labor
6 That same day Pharaoh gave these orders to the slave drivers and foremen: 7 “Don’t give the people any more straw to make bricks as you have been doing. Let them gather their own straw, 8 but insist that they make the same number of bricks they were making before. Making fewer bricks will not be acceptable. They’re lazy! That’s why they’re crying, ‘Let us go offer sacrifices to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder for these people so that they will be too busy to listen to lies.”
10 The slave drivers and foreman went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: I’m no longer giving you straw. 11 Get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work load will not be reduced one bit.”
12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept hurrying them. They said, “Finish the same amount of work each day, just as when you had straw.”
14 Pharaoh’s slave drivers had placed Israelite foremen in charge of the people. The slave drivers beat the foremen and said, “You didn’t finish all the bricks you were ordered to make yesterday or today. Why didn’t you make as many as you used to?”
15 Then the Israelite foremen complained to Pharaoh. They asked, “Why are you treating us this way? 16 We’re given no straw, and yet we’re told to make bricks. We’re being beaten, but your men are at fault.”
17 “You’re lazy! ⌞Just plain⌟ lazy!” Pharaoh answered. “That’s why you keep saying, ‘Let us go offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ 18 Now get back to work! You won’t be given any straw, but you must still make the same number of bricks.”
19 The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “Don’t make fewer bricks each day than you’re supposed to.”
20 As they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting for them. 21 So they said, “May the Lord see what you have done and judge you! You have made Pharaoh and his officials hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us.”
22 Moses went back to the Lord and asked, “Why have you brought this trouble on your people? Why did you send me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak for you, he has treated your people cruelly, and you have done nothing at all to rescue your people.”
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. I will show him my power, and he will let my people go. I will show him my power, and he will throw them out of his country.”
The Lord Tells Moses to Speak to Pharaoh Again
2 God spoke to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I didn’t make myself known to them by my name, the Lord. 4 I even made a promise [a] to give them Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners. 5 Now I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians hold in slavery, and I have remembered my promise.
6 “Tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under the oppression of the Egyptians, and I will free you from slavery. I will rescue you with my powerful arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 Then I will make you my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you to the land I solemnly swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your own possession. I am the Lord.’ ”
9 Moses reported this to the Israelites. But they would not listen to him because they were so discouraged by their back-breaking work.
10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 11 “Go tell Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) to let the Israelites leave his country.”
12 But Moses protested to the Lord, “The Israelites wouldn’t listen to me. Why would Pharaoh listen to me? I’m such a poor speaker.”
13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). He commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
A Letter to the Church in Philadelphia
7 “To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia, write:
The one who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens ⌞a door⌟ that no one can shut, and who shuts ⌞a door⌟ that no one can open, says: 8 I know what you have done. See, I have opened a door in front of you that no one can shut. You only have a little strength, but you have paid attention to my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are in Satan’s synagogue come and bow at your feet and realize that I have loved you. They claim that they are Jewish, but they are lying. 10 Because you have obeyed my command to endure, I will keep you safe during the time of testing which is coming to the whole world to test those living on earth. 11 I am coming soon! Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown.
12 I will make everyone who wins the victory a pillar in the temple of my God. They will never leave it again. I will write on them the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from my God), and my new name. 13 Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
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