Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 114[a]
The Lord’s Wonders at the Exodus
1 When Israel came forth from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from an alien people,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel, God’s domain.(A)
3 [b]The sea saw and fled;
the Jordan turned back.(B)
4 The mountains skipped like rams;
the hills, like lambs.(C)
5 Why was it, sea, that you fled?
Jordan, that you turned back?
6 Mountains, that you skipped like rams?
You hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, earth, before the Lord,(D)
before the God of Jacob,
8 [c]Who turned the rock into pools of water,
flint into a flowing spring.(E)
Chapter 14
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 2 Speak to the Israelites: Let them turn about and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea.(A) Camp in front of Baal-zephon,[a] just opposite, by the sea. 3 Pharaoh will then say, “The Israelites are wandering about aimlessly in the land. The wilderness has closed in on them.” 4 I will so harden Pharaoh’s heart that he will pursue them. Thus I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.
This the Israelites did. 5 (B)When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart about the people. “What in the world have we done!” they said. “We have released Israel from our service!” 6 So Pharaoh harnessed his chariots and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred select chariots and all the chariots of Egypt, with officers[b] on all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites while they were going out in triumph. 9 The Egyptians pursued them—all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, his horsemen,[c] and his army—and caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea, at Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
Crossing the Red Sea. 10 Now Pharaoh was near when the Israelites looked up and saw that the Egyptians had set out after them. Greatly frightened, the Israelites cried out to the Lord. 11 To Moses they said, “Were there no burial places in Egypt that you brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? Far better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 But Moses answered the people, “Do not fear! Stand your ground and see the victory the Lord will win for you today. For these Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you have only to keep still.”
15 Then the Lord said to Moses: Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to set out. 16 And you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea, and split it in two, that the Israelites may pass through the sea on dry land. 17 But I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.
9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into slavery in Egypt; but God was with him(A) 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions. He granted him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who put him in charge of Egypt and [of] his entire household.(B) 11 Then a famine and great affliction struck all Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find no food;(C) 12 but when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there a first time.(D) 13 The second time, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.(E) 14 Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob, inviting him and his whole clan, seventy-five persons;(F) 15 and Jacob went down to Egypt. And he and our ancestors died(G) 16 and were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor at Shechem.(H)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.