Exodus 15
1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously,
the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a warrior—
the Lord is his name.
4 The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he has thrown into the sea,
and his chosen officers were drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The depths have covered them;
they went down to the bottom like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power;
your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
7 In the abundance of your majesty you have overthrown
those who rise up against you.
You sent forth your wrath;
it consumed them like stubble.
8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up,
the flowing water stood upright like a heap,
and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil;
my desire will be satisfied on them.
I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’
10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you—majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, working wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand,
the earth swallowed them.
13 By your loyal love you will lead the people whom you have redeemed;
you will guide them by your strength to your holy dwelling place.
14 The nations will hear and tremble;
anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
trembling will seize the leaders of Moab,
and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.
16 Fear and dread will fall on them;
by the greatness of your arm they will be as still as stone
until your people pass by, O Lord,
until the people whom you have bought pass by.
17 You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,
in the place you made for your residence, O Lord,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever!
19 For the horses of Pharaoh came with his chariots and his footmen into the sea,
and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them,
but the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.”
20 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand drum in her hand, and all the women went out after her with hand drums and with dances. 21 Miriam sang in response to them,
“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.”
22 Then Moses led Israel to journey away from the Red Sea. They went out to the wilderness of Shur, walked for three days into the wilderness, and found no water. 23 Then they came to Marah, but they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. (That is why its name was Marah.)
24 So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What can we drink?” 25 He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord made for them a binding ordinance, and there he tested them. 26 He said, “If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.
Luke 18
1 Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. 3 There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, 5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! 7 Won’t God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long to help them? 8 I tell you, he will give them justice speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
9 Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else. 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’ 13 The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!’ 14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
15 Now people were even bringing their babies to him for him to touch. But when the disciples saw it, they began to scold those who brought them. 16 But Jesus called for the children, saying, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
18 Now a certain leader asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” 21 The man replied, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws since my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 23 But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was extremely wealthy. 24 When Jesus noticed this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 He replied, “What is impossible for mere humans is possible for God.” 28 And Peter said, “Look, we have left everything we own to follow you! 29 Then Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of God’s kingdom 30 who will not receive many times more in this age—and in the age to come, eternal life.”
31 Then Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; he will be mocked, mistreated, and spat on. 33 They will flog him severely and kill him. Yet on the third day he will rise again.” 34 But the twelve understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what Jesus meant.
35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36 When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was going on. 37 They told him, “Jesus the Nazarene is passing by.” 38 So he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front scolded him to get him to be quiet, but he shouted even more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 So Jesus stopped and ordered the beggar to be brought to him. When the man came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, let me see again.” 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 And immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they too gave praise to God.
Job 33
1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,
and hear everything I have to say.
2 See now, I have opened my mouth;
my tongue in my mouth has spoken.
3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart,
and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely.
4 The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 Reply to me, if you can;
set your arguments in order before me
and take your stand.
6 Look, I am just like you in relation to God;
I too have been molded from clay.
7 Therefore no fear of me should terrify you,
nor should my pressure be heavy on you.
8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing
(I heard the sound of the words!):
9 ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean and have no iniquity.
10 Yet God finds occasions with me;
he regards me as his enemy.
11 He puts my feet in shackles;
he watches closely all my paths.’
12 Now in this, you are not right—I answer you,
for God is greater than a human being.
13 Why do you contend against him,
that he does not answer all a person’s words?
14 “For God speaks, the first time in one way,
the second time in another,
though a person does not perceive it.
15 In a dream, a night vision,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they sleep in their beds.
16 Then he gives a revelation to people,
and terrifies them with warnings,
17 to turn a person from his sin,
and to cover a person’s pride.
18 He spares a person’s life from corruption,
his very life from crossing over the river.
19 Or a person is chastened by pain on his bed,
and with the continual strife of his bones,
20 so that his life loathes food,
and his soul rejects appetizing fare.
21 His flesh wastes away from sight,
and his bones, which were not seen,
are easily visible.
22 He draws near to the place of corruption,
and his life to the messengers of death.
23 If there is an angel beside him,
one mediator out of a thousand,
to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness;
24 and if God is gracious to him and says,
‘Spare him from going down
to the place of corruption,
I have found a ransom for him,’
25 then his flesh is restored like a youth’s;
he returns to the days of his youthful vigor.
26 He entreats God, and God delights in him,
he sees God’s face with rejoicing,
and God restores to him his righteousness.
27 That person sings to others, saying:
‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,
but I was not punished according to what I deserved.
28 He redeemed my life
from going down to the place of corruption,
and my life sees the light!’
29 “Indeed, God does all these things,
twice, three times, in his dealings with a person,
30 to turn back his life from the place of corruption,
that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
31 Pay attention, Job—listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
32 If you have any words, reply to me;
speak, for I want to justify you.
33 If not, you listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
2 Corinthians 3
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? We don’t need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, 3 revealing that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Now we have such confidence in God through Christ. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 But if the ministry that produced death—carved in letters on stone tablets—came with glory, so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory which was made ineffective), 8 how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory! 10 For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. 11 For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory! 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, 13 and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective. 14 But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, 16 but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
