Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
19 The angel of God had been leading the army of the Israelites. Now he moved and he went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved and it stood behind the army. 20 It stood between the Egyptian army and the Israelite army. During the whole night, the Egyptians were in the dark, because of the cloud. But the cloud gave light to the Israelites. So the two armies did not come near to each other during the whole night.
21 Then Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. During that whole night, the Lord made a strong wind blow from the east. This caused the sea to become two separate parts. The ground between the water became dry land. 22 So the Israelites walked on the dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side.
23 The Egyptians followed the Israelites into the middle of the sea to catch them. All Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and their riders did this. 24 Just before dawn, the Lord looked down from the pillar of cloud with fire in it. He saw the Egyptian army and he made them become confused. 25 He stopped the wheels of their chariots, so that the Egyptians could not drive them properly. So the Egyptians said, ‘Let us run away from the Israelite army! It is the Lord who fights for them against Egypt.’
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand over the sea. Then the water will return back. The sea will cover the Egyptians, their chariots, their horses and their riders.’ 27 So Moses lifted up his hand over the sea. At dawn, the sea returned to its proper place. The Egyptians tried to run away from the water, but the Lord made them drown in the middle of the sea.
28 The water returned to its proper place. It covered all of Pharaoh's army that had followed the Israelites into the sea. It covered all the chariots, the horses and their riders. Not one of Pharaoh's soldiers was still alive! 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the middle of the sea. The water was like a wall on their right side and on their left side. 30 On that day, the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptian army. The Israelites saw the dead bodies of the Egyptians, which lay on the shore.
31 The Israelites saw the great power that the Lord had used against the Egyptians. As a result, they respected the Lord and his power. They trusted the Lord to help them, and they also trusted Moses, his servant.
Hallelujah, God does great things[a]
114 God led Israel's people out of Egypt.
Jacob's descendants left that foreign land.
2 Then Judah became God's special place for his people.
There he ruled over Israel's people.
3 The sea looked and ran away!
Then the Jordan River turned back![b]
4 The mountains shook,
like sheep that are jumping.
The hills jumped like lambs.[c]
5 Tell me, sea, why did you run away?
Tell me, Jordan River, why did you turn back?
6 And you mountains and hills,
why did you jump like sheep?
7 Earth, you should shake with fear!
The Lord, Jacob's God, has come to you,
so be afraid!
8 He changes a rock into a pool of water!
Water pours out of a hard rock![d]
The song of Moses
15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to praise the Lord:
‘I will sing to the Lord, because he has shown his great power.
He threw horses and their riders into the sea.
2 The Lord makes me strong. He is the reason for my song.
He is the one who has saved me.
He is my God and I will praise him.
He is my father's God and I will praise his name.
3 The Lord is like a brave soldier.
The Lord is his name.
4 He threw Pharaoh's chariots and his army into the sea.
Pharaoh's best officers drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The deep waters have covered them.
They fell to the floor of the sea, like a stone.
6 Your right hand, Lord, was great and powerful.
Your right hand, Lord, destroyed the enemy.
7 With your powerful authority, you killed your enemies.
You were very angry with them.
You killed them, like a fire burns dry grass.
8 You blew on the water and it became like a wall.
The deep waters stood up in a big heap.
9 The enemy said, “We will go after them. We will catch them.
We will destroy them with our swords.
We will do whatever we want to them.
We will take all their valuable things for ourselves.”
10 But Lord, you blew on the waters
so that the sea covered your enemies.
They went down like heavy metal in the great waters.
11 Lord, there is nobody like you among all the gods!
There is nobody like you anywhere!
You are great and holy.
Everyone should respect you and praise you.
You do great miracles.
There is nobody like you!
20 Then Miriam, Aaron's sister, who was a prophet, took a tambourine in her hand.[a] All the other women followed her, with tambourines in their hands. They danced while Miriam sang to them.
21 This is the song that she sang:
‘Sing to the Lord, because he has shown his great power.
He threw horses and their riders into the sea.’
Accept all Christians
14 It is difficult for some Christians to trust God completely about everything. You should accept people like that as your friends. Do not argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2 Some people believe that they may eat all kinds of food. But other people are not so sure, so they eat only vegetables. 3 People who eat anything must not think that they are better than people who eat only vegetables. Also, people who eat only vegetables must not judge other people who eat anything. They are not doing anything wrong, because God himself has accepted them.
4 God is the master of all believers and they are his servants. You do not have authority to judge someone else's servant. The servant's own master will decide if he has done well or he has done something wrong. And he will serve his master well, because the Lord is able to help him to do that.
5 Some people think that certain days are special and more important than other days. Other people think that all days are the same. Each person should decide what seems right to him. 6 A person who makes a certain day special does that so that he can respect the Lord. A person who eats all kinds of food does that so that he can respect the Lord. He thanks God for the food that he eats. A person who refuses to eat certain foods also does that so that he can respect the Lord. And he also thanks God.
7 None of us lives only to please ourselves. And we do not die to please ourselves. 8 While we live, we want to please the Lord. And when we die, we want that to please the Lord too. So, while we live, or if we die, we continue to belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and then he became alive again. That happened so that he could be the Lord of all people, those who have died and those who are still alive.
10 So then, if you eat only vegetables, you must not judge other believers. Also, if you eat anything, you must not think that you are better than other believers. Remember that all of us will have to stand in front of God. He will decide whether we have done what is right or wrong. 11 This is written in the Bible:
‘The Lord God says,
“As surely as I live, this will certainly happen:
Everyone will go down on their knees in front of me.
Everyone will praise me that I am God.” ’[a]
12 So each of us will have to explain to God about the things that we have done.
Jesus tells the people about the servant who did not forgive
21 Then Peter came to talk to Jesus. He asked, ‘Lord, if my friend does wrong things against me many times, how many times should I forgive him? Must I forgive him as many as seven times for the wrong things that he has done against me?’
22 Jesus replied, ‘I do not say only seven times. I say you should forgive him 77 times!’[a]
23 Jesus then said, ‘I will tell you a story to show what the kingdom of heaven is like. A king wanted to check how much money his servants should give to him because of their debts. 24 So the king began to check. His men led a servant to him who had a big debt. He must pay back 10,000 gold coins to the king.[b]
25 The servant could not pay his big debt to the king. So the king said to his men, “Sell the servant and his wife and his children and all his things. Then I will keep the money to pay his debt.”
26 Then the servant went down on his knees in front of the king. He said to the king, “Please, please give me some more time, then I will pay you everything.” 27 The king felt sorry for his servant. He forgave him for all the debt and let him go free.
28 But then that same servant went away and he met another servant of the king. This other servant had to pay back a debt of 100 silver coins to the first servant. The first servant took hold of the neck of the other servant to hurt him. He said, “Give me the money that is mine.”
29 The other servant went down on his knees in front of the first servant. He said, “Please, please give me some more time, then I will give you the money.”
30 But the first servant would not agree. He put the other servant in prison until he could pay his debt to him. 31 The other servants of the king saw what had happened. They were very upset about it. So they went to see the king. They told him about everything that had happened.
32 When the king heard this, he told the first servant to come to him. “You are a very bad person,” the king said to the servant. “I forgave you the whole of your big debt to me. I did this because you asked me very strongly. 33 I was kind to you. You should have been kind to that other servant in the same way.” 34 The king was very angry with the first servant. He told his men to put him in prison. They punished the servant there very much, until he could pay all his debt to the king.’
35 Then Jesus finished the story and he said, ‘You must forgive your friends completely. If you do not agree to forgive them, then my Father in heaven will do like that king did. He will not forgive you.’
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.