Today's Reading

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea.

³Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, 'They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.'

⁴I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord." They did so.

⁵It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"

⁶He made ready his chariot, and took his army with him;

⁷and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them.

⁸The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; for the children of Israel went out with a high hand.

⁹The Egyptians pursued after them: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

¹⁰When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

¹¹They said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us forth out of Egypt?

¹²Isn't this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."

¹³Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again.

¹⁴The Lord will fight for you, and you shall be still."

¹⁵The Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward.

¹⁶Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.

¹⁷I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.

¹⁸The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen."

¹⁹The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them.

²⁰It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one did not come near the other all the night.

²¹Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

²²The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.

²³The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea: all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

²⁴It happened in the morning watch, that the Lord looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army.

²⁵He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, "Let's flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians!"

²⁶The Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen."

²⁷Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. The Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

²⁸The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh's army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them.

²⁹But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.

³⁰Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

³¹Israel saw the great work which the Lord did to the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord; and they believed in the Lord, and in his servant Moses.

¹Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, "I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

²Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

³The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name.

⁴He has cast Pharaoh's chariots and his army into the sea. His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.

⁵The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone.

⁶Your right hand, Lord, is glorious in power. Your right hand, Lord, dashes the enemy in pieces.

⁷In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you. You send forth your wrath. It consumes them as stubble.

⁸With the blast of your nostrils, the waters were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.

⁹The enemy said, 'I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.'

¹⁰You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹¹Who is like you, Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

¹²You stretched out your right hand. The earth swallowed them.

¹³"You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.

¹⁴The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.

¹⁵Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.

¹⁶Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone- until your people pass over, Lord, until the people pass over who you have purchased.

¹⁷You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, Lord, which you have made for yourself to dwell in; the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established.

¹⁸The Lord shall reign forever and ever."

¹⁹For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea.

²⁰Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances.

²¹Miriam answered them, "Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."

²²Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.

²³When they came to Marah, they couldn't drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore its name was called Marah.

²⁴The people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"

²⁵Then he cried to the Lord. The Lord showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them;

²⁶and he said, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.

²⁷They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

¹They took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

²The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness;

³and the children of Israel said to them, "We wish that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

⁴Then said the Lord to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law, or not.

⁵It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily."

⁶Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, "At evening, then you shall know that the Lord has brought you out from the land of Egypt;

⁷and in the morning, then you shall see the glory of the Lord; because he hears your murmurings against the Lord. Who are we, that you murmur against us?"

⁸Moses said, "Now the Lord shall give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you; because the Lord hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord."

⁹Moses said to Aaron, "Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, 'Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your murmurings.'"

¹⁰It happened, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹²"I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, 'At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.'"

¹³It happened at evening that quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp.

¹⁴When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground.

¹⁵When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat."

¹⁶This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: "Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, you shall take it, every man for those who are in his tent."

¹⁷The children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less.

¹⁸When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating.

¹⁹Moses said to them, "Let no one leave of it until the morning."

²⁰Notwithstanding they did not listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them.

²¹They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted.

²²It happened that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

²³He said to them, "This is that which the Lord has spoken, 'Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.'"

²⁴They laid it up until the morning, as Moses asked, and it did not become foul, neither was there any worm in it.

²⁵Moses said, "Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you shall not find it in the field.

²⁶Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none."

²⁷It happened on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, and they found none.

²⁸The Lord said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

²⁹Behold, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day."

³⁰So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹The house of Israel called its name Manna, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey.

³²Moses said, "This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, 'Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.'"

³³Moses said to Aaron, "Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations."

³⁴As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

³⁵The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan.

³⁶Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

¹Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying,

²"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son,

³and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come.

⁴Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "Behold, I have made ready my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast!"'

⁵But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise,

⁶and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them.

⁷The king was enraged, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

⁸"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren't worthy.

⁹Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.'

¹⁰Those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.

¹¹But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who did not have on wedding clothing,

¹²and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?' He was speechless.

¹³Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.'

¹⁴For many are called, but few chosen."

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk.

¹⁶They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach, for you are not partial to anyone.

¹⁷Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"

¹⁸But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test me, you hypocrites?

¹⁹Show me the tax money." They brought to him a denarius.

²⁰He asked them, "Whose is this image and inscription?"

²¹They said to him, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

²²When they heard it, they marveled, and left him, and went away.

²³On that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him,

²⁴saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed for his brother.'

²⁵Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no seed left his wife to his brother.

²⁶In like manner the second also, and the third, to the seventh.

²⁷After them all, the woman died.

²⁸In the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her."

²⁹But Jesus answered them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.

³⁰For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven.

³¹But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have not you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying,

³²'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?' God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

³³When the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

³⁴But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together.

³⁵One of them, a Law scholar, asked him a question, testing him.

³⁶"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"

³⁷He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'

³⁸This is the great and first commandment.

³⁹A second likewise is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

⁴⁰The whole Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments."

⁴¹Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,

⁴²saying, "What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "Of David."

⁴³He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

⁴⁴'The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet'?

⁴⁵"If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?"

⁴⁶No one was able to answer him a word, neither did any man dare ask him any more questions from that day forth.

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?

²My God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer; in the night season, and am not silent.

³But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.

⁴Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.

⁵They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.

⁶But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.

⁷All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,

⁸"He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him."

⁹But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust at my mother's breasts.

¹⁰I was thrown on you from my mother's womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.

¹¹Do not be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help.

¹²Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

¹³They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.

¹⁴I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.

¹⁵My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.

¹⁶For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.

¹⁷I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.

¹⁸They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.

¹⁹But do not be far off, Lord. You are my help: hurry to help me.

²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.

²¹Save me from the lion's mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.

²²I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.

²³You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!

²⁴For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.

²⁵Of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.

²⁶The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.

²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.

²⁸For the kingdom is the Lord's. He is the ruler over the nations.

²⁹All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can't keep his soul alive.

³⁰Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.

³¹They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.

¹A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold.

²The rich and the poor have this in common: The Lord is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man sees danger, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

⁴The result of humility and the fear of the Lord is wealth, honor, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked: whoever guards his soul stays from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

⁹He who has a generous eye will be blessed; for he shares his food with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out; yes, quarrels and insults will stop.

¹¹He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king's friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord watch over knowledge; but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

¹³The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!"

¹⁴The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit: he who is under the Lord's wrath will fall into it.

¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a child: the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

¹⁶Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.

¹⁷Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.

¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.

¹⁹That your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you.

²⁰Haven't I written to you thirty excellent things of counsel and knowledge,

²¹To teach you truth, reliable words, to give sound answers to the ones who sent you?

²²Do not exploit the poor, because he is poor; and do not crush the needy in court;

²³for the Lord will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.

²⁴Do not befriend a hot-tempered man, and do not associate with one who harbors anger:

²⁵lest you learn his ways, and ensnare your soul.

²⁶Do not be one of those who strike hands, of those who are collateral for debts.

²⁷If you do not have means to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?

²⁸Do not move the ancient boundary stone, which your fathers have set up.

²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won't serve obscure men.