Exodus 15; Psalm 65; 1 Samuel 16; Isaiah 65; Luke 21

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Exodus 15

The Song of Moses

Then Moses and the people of Israel fsang this song to the Lord, saying,

gI will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider1 he has thrown into the sea.

hThe Lord is my strength and my isong,

and he has become jmy salvation;

this is my God, and I will praise him,

kmy father’s God, and lI will exalt him.

The Lord is ma man of war;

nthe Lord is his name.

oPharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,

and his chosen pofficers were sunk in the Red Sea.

The qfloods covered them;

they rwent down into the depths like a stone.

sYour right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,

your right hand, O Lord, tshatters the enemy.

In the ugreatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;

you send out your fury; it vconsumes them like stubble.

At the wblast of your nostrils the waters piled up;

the xfloods stood up in a heap;

the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

The enemy said, yI will pursue, I will overtake,

I zwill divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.

I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.

10  You ablew with your wind; the bsea covered them;

they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

11  cWho is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like you, majestic in holiness,

awesome in dglorious deeds, edoing wonders?

12  You stretched out fyour right hand;

the earth swallowed them.

13  You have gled in your steadfast love the people whom hyou have redeemed;

you have iguided them by your strength to your holy abode.

14  jThe peoples have heard; they tremble;

pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.

15  Now are the chiefs of Edom kdismayed;

trembling seizes the leaders of lMoab;

mall the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

16  Terror and ndread fall upon them;

because of the greatness of your arm, they are still oas a stone,

till your people, O Lord, pass by,

till the people pass by whom pyou have purchased.

17  You will bring them in and qplant them on your own mountain,

the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,

rthe sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.

18  sThe Lord will reign forever and ever.

19 For when tthe horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, uthe Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. 20 Then vMiriam wthe prophetess, the xsister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and yall the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them:

zSing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

Bitter Water Made Sweet

22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of aShur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to bMarah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.2 24 And the people cgrumbled against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? 25 And he dcried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log,3 and he ethrew it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord4 made for them a statute and a rule, and there he ftested them, 26 saying, gIf you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the hdiseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, iyour healer.

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


Psalm 65

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

Praise eis due to you,1 O God, in Zion,

and to you shall fvows be performed.

O you who ghear prayer,

to you hshall all flesh come.

When iiniquities prevail against me,

you jatone for our transgressions.

kBlessed is the one you choose and bring near,

to ldwell in your courts!

We shall be msatisfied with the goodness of your house,

the holiness of your temple!

By nawesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,

O God of our salvation,

the hope of all othe ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas;

the one who by his strength established the mountains,

being pgirded with might;

who qstills the roaring of the seas,

the roaring of their waves,

rthe tumult of the peoples,

so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.

You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

You visit the earth and swater it;2

you greatly enrich it;

tthe river of God is full of water;

uyou provide their grain,

for so you have prepared it.

10  You water its furrows abundantly,

settling its ridges,

softening it with vshowers,

and blessing its growth.

11  You crown the year with your bounty;

your wagon tracks woverflow with abundance.

12  xThe pastures of the wilderness overflow,

the hills ygird themselves with joy,

13  zthe meadows clothe themselves with flocks,

the valleys deck themselves with grain,

they ashout and sing together for joy.


1 Samuel 16

David Anointed King

The Lord said to Samuel, rHow long will you grieve over Saul, since sI have rejected him from being king over Israel? tFill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, ufor I have provided for myself a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with you and say, vI have come to sacrifice to the Lord. And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. wAnd you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you. Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city xcame to meet him trembling and said, yDo you come peaceably? And he said, Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. zConsecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

When they came, he looked on aEliab and thought, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, bDo not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, cbut the Lord looks on the heart. Then Jesse called dAbinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one. Then Jesse made dShammah pass by. And he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one. 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen these. 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your sons here? And he said, eThere remains yet the youngest,1 but behold, he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, fSend and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here. 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was gruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, hArise, anoint him, for this is he. 13 Then Samuel took ithe horn of oil jand anointed him in the midst of his brothers. kAnd the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

David in Saul’s Service

14 lNow the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, mand a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants nwho are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will oplay it, and you will be well. 17 So Saul said to his servants, Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me. 18 One of the young men answered, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, pa man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, qand the Lord is with him. 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me David your son, rwho is with the sheep. 20 sAnd Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul tand entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight. 23 And uwhenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre oand played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.


Isaiah 65

Judgment and Salvation

gI was ready to be sought by hthose who did not ask for me;

I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.

I said, Here I am, here I am,

to a nation that was not called by1 my name.

iI spread out my hands all the day

to a rebellious people,

who walk in a way that is not good,

following their own devices;

a people who provoke me

to my face continually,

jsacrificing in gardens

and making offerings on bricks;

who sit in tombs,

and spend the night in secret places;

kwho eat pig’s flesh,

and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;

who say, Keep to yourself,

do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.

lThese are a smoke in my nostrils,

a fire that burns all the day.

Behold, mit is written before me:

nI will not keep silent, but I will repay;

oI will indeed repay into their lap

both your iniquities pand your fathers’ iniquities together,

says the Lord;

qbecause they made offerings on the mountains

qand insulted me on the hills,

I will measure into their lap

payment for their former deeds.2

Thus says the Lord:

rAs the new wine is found in the cluster,

and they say, Do not destroy it,

for there is a blessing in it,

so I will do for my servants’ sake,

sand not destroy them all.

tI will bring forth offspring from Jacob,

and from Judah possessors of my mountains;

my chosen shall possess it,

and my servants shall dwell there.

10  uSharon shall become a pasture for flocks,

and vthe Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,

for my people wwho have sought me.

11  But xyou who forsake the Lord,

who forget ymy holy mountain,

who zset a table for Fortune

and zfill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,

12  I will destine you to the sword,

and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,

abecause, when I called, you did not answer;

when I spoke, you did not listen,

bbut you did what was evil in my eyes

and chose what I did not delight in.

13  Therefore thus says the Lord God:

Behold, cmy servants shall eat,

but you shall be hungry;

behold, my servants shall drink,

but you shall be thirsty;

behold, my servants shall rejoice,

but you shall be put to shame;

14  behold, dmy servants shall sing for gladness of heart,

but you shall cry out for pain of heart

and shall wail for breaking of spirit.

15  You shall leave your name to emy chosen ffor a curse,

and the Lord God will put you to death,

but his servants ghe will call by another name,

16  so that he who hblesses himself in the land

shall bless himself by hthe God of truth,

and he who takes an oath in the land

shall swear by ithe God of truth;

jbecause the former troubles are forgotten

and are hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

17  For behold, kI create new heavens

and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered

or come into mind.

18  But be glad and rejoice forever

in that which I create;

for behold, lI create Jerusalem to be a joy,

and her people to be a gladness.

19  mI will rejoice in Jerusalem

and be glad in my people;

nno more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping

and the cry of distress.

20  No more shall there be in it

an infant who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not fill out his days,

for othe young man shall die a hundred years old,

and pthe sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

21  qThey shall build houses and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22  qThey shall not build and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat;

rfor like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

and my chosen shall long enjoy3 the work of their hands.

23  sThey shall not labor in vain

tor bear children for calamity,4

for uthey shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,

and their descendants with them.

24  vBefore they call I will answer;

wwhile they are yet speaking I will hear.

25  xThe wolf and the lamb shall graze together;

the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

and ydust shall be the serpent’s food.

zThey shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain,

says the Lord.


Luke 21

The Widow’s Offering

yJesus1 looked up and saw the rich zputting their gifts into athe offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two bsmall copper coins.2 And he said, Truly, I tell you, cthis poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her dpoverty put in all eshe had to live on.

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

fAnd while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, As for these things that you see, gthe days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And they asked him, Teacher, hwhen will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? And he said, iSee that you are not led astray. For jmany will come in my name, saying, kI am he! and, lThe time is at hand! Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be mterrified, for these things nmust first take place, but the end will not be at once.

Jesus Foretells Wars and Persecution

10 Then he said to them, oNation will rise against nation, and pkingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great qearthquakes, and in various places rfamines and pestilences. And there will be sterrors and great tsigns from heaven. 12 But before all this uthey will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to vthe synagogues and wprisons, and you xwill be brought before ykings and zgovernors for my name’s sake. 13 aThis will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds bnot to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for cI will give you a mouth and dwisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or econtradict. 16 You will be delivered up feven by parents and brothers3 and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 gYou will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But hnot a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your iendurance you will gain your lives.

Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem

20 But jwhen you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that kits desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are ldays of mvengeance, to fulfill nall that is written. 23 oAlas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and pwrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and qbe led captive among all nations, and rJerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, suntil the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Coming of the Son of Man

25 And tthere will be signs in sun and moon uand stars, and on the earth vdistress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For wthe powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see xthe Son of Man coming in a cloud ywith power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and zraise your heads, because ayour redemption is drawing near.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

29 And he told them a parable: Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see bfor yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 cTruly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33 dHeaven and earth will pass away, but emy words will not pass away.

Watch Yourselves

34 But watch yourselves flest gyour hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and hcares of this life, and ithat day come upon you suddenly jlike a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But kstay awake at all times, lpraying that you may mhave strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and nto stand before the Son of Man.

37 And oevery day he was teaching in the temple, but pat night he went out and lodged on qthe mount called Olivet. 38 And early in the morning oall the people came to him in the temple to hear him.