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Psalm 92

1  It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord ♦︎
   and to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2  To tell of your love early in the morning ♦︎
   and of your faithfulness in the night-time,
3  Upon the ten-stringed instrument, upon the harp, ♦︎
   and to the melody of the lyre.
4  For you, Lord, have made me glad by your acts, ♦︎
   and I sing aloud at the works of your hands.
5  O Lord, how glorious are your works! ♦︎
   Your thoughts are very deep.
6  The senseless do not know, ♦︎
   nor do fools understand,
7  That though the wicked sprout like grass ♦︎
   and all the workers of iniquity flourish,
8  It is only to be destroyed for ever; ♦︎
   but you, O Lord, shall be exalted for evermore.
9  For lo, your enemies, O Lord,
      lo, your enemies shall perish, ♦︎
   and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10  But my horn you have exalted
      like the horns of wild oxen; ♦︎
   I am anointed with fresh oil.
11  My eyes will look down on my foes; ♦︎
   my ears shall hear the ruin of the evildoers
      who rise up against me.
12  The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, ♦︎
   and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
13  Such as are planted in the house of the Lord ♦︎
   shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14  They shall still bear fruit in old age; ♦︎
   they shall be vigorous and in full leaf;
15  That they may show that the Lord is true; ♦︎
   he is my rock,
      and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Psalm 100

1  O be joyful in the Lord, all the earth; ♦︎
   serve the Lord with gladness
      and come before his presence with a song.
2  Know that the Lord is God; ♦︎
   it is he that has made us and we are his;
      we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
3  Enter his gates with thanksgiving
      and his courts with praise; ♦︎
   give thanks to him and bless his name.
4  For the Lord is gracious; his steadfast love is everlasting, ♦︎
   and his faithfulness endures from generation to generation.

23 After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. ²⁴God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.

Moses at the Burning Bush

3Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ²There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. ³Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ ⁴When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ ⁵Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ ⁶He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7 Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, ⁸and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’

Service Well-Pleasing to God

13Let mutual love continue. ²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. ³Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.^{* 4}Let marriage be held in honour by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. ⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ ⁶So we can say with confidence,
‘The Lord is my helper;
   I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?’

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. ⁹Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings; for it is well for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by regulations about food,^* which have not benefited those who observe them. ¹⁰We have an altar from which those who officiate in the tent^* have no right to eat. ¹¹For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. ¹²Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. ¹³Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. ¹⁴For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. ¹⁵Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Jesus the Cause of Division

49 ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! ⁵¹Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! ⁵²From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; ⁵³they will be divided:
father against son
   and son against father,
mother against daughter
   and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
   and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

Interpreting the Time

54 He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and so it happens. ⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There will be scorching heat”; and it happens. ⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?