Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 149
149 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing God’s praise in the assembly of the faithful!
2 Let Israel celebrate its maker;
let Zion’s children rejoice in their king!
3 Let them praise God’s name with dance;
let them sing God’s praise with the drum and lyre!
4 Because the Lord is pleased with his people,
God will beautify the poor with saving help.
5 Let the faithful celebrate with glory;
let them shout for joy on their beds.[a]
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 to get revenge against the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 binding their rulers in chains
and their officials in iron shackles,
9 achieving the justice
written against them.
That will be an honor for all God’s faithful people.
Praise the Lord!
Darkness covers Egypt
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over the land of Egypt, a darkness that you can feel.” 22 So Moses raised his hand toward the sky, and an intense darkness fell on the whole land of Egypt for three days. 23 People couldn’t see each other, and they couldn’t go anywhere for three days. But the Israelites all had light where they lived.
24 Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go! Worship the Lord! Only your flocks and herds need to stay behind. Even your children can go with you.”
25 But Moses said, “You need to let us have sacrifices and entirely burned offerings to present to the Lord our God. 26 So our livestock must go with us. Not one animal can be left behind. We’ll need some of them for worshipping the Lord our God. We won’t know which to use to worship the Lord until we get there.”
27 But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn so that he wasn’t willing to let them go. 28 Pharaoh said to him, “Get out of here! Make sure you never see my face again, because the next time you see my face you will die.”
29 Moses said, “You’ve said it! I’ll never see your face again!”
15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the good news.[a]
16 But everyone hasn’t obeyed the good news. As Isaiah says, Lord, who has had faith in our message?[b] 17 So, faith comes from listening, but it’s listening by means of Christ’s message. 18 But I ask you, didn’t they hear it? Definitely! Their voice has gone out into the entire earth, and their message has gone out to the corners of the inhabited world.[c] 19 But I ask you again, didn’t Israel understand? First, Moses says, I will make you jealous of those who aren’t a people, of a people without understanding.[d] 20 And Isaiah even dares to say, I was found by those who didn’t look for me; I revealed myself to those who didn’t ask for me.[e] 21 But he says about Israel, All day long I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.[f]
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible