Wednesday, 14 February

23.   Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24.   So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25.   And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them .

1.   Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father–in–law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2.   And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3.   Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." 4.   So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5.   Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." 6.   Moreover He said, "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 upon God. 7.   And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8.   "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9.   "Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10.   "Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." 11.   But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" 12.   So He said, "I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." 13.   Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?" 14.   And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’" 15.   Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ 16.   "Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; 17.   "and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey."’ 18.   "Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The LORD God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ 19.   "But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. 20.   "So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. 21.   "And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty–handed. 22.   "But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians."

1.   Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’" 2.   So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." 3.   And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4.   Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5.   "that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." 6.   Furthermore the LORD said to him, "Now put your hand in your bosom." And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. 7.   And He said, "Put your hand in your bosom again." So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. 8.   "Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. 9.   "And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land . And the water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land ." 10.   Then Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." 11.   So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? 12.   "Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say." 13.   But he said, "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send." 14.   So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said: "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15.   "Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. 16.   "So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. 17.   "And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs."

1.   Job further continued his discourse, and said: 2.   Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me; 3.   When His lamp shone upon my head, And when by His light I walked through darkness; 4.   Just as I was in the days of my prime, When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent; 5.   When the Almighty was yet with me, When my children were around me; 6.   When my steps were bathed with cream, And the rock poured out rivers of oil for me! 7.   "When I went out to the gate by the city, When I took my seat in the open square, 8.   The young men saw me and hid, And the aged arose and stood; 9.   The princes refrained from talking, And put their hand on their mouth; 10.   The voice of nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. 11.   When the ear heard, then it blessed me, And when the eye saw, then it approved me; 12.   Because I delivered the poor who cried out, The fatherless and the one who had no helper. 13.   The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. 14.   I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. 15.   I was eyes to the blind, And I was feet to the lame. 16.   I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know. 17.   I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth. 18.   "Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest, And multiply my days as the sand. 19.   My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch. 20.   My glory is fresh within me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.’ 21.   " Men listened to me and waited, And kept silence for my counsel. 22.   After my words they did not speak again, And my speech settled on them as dew . 23.   They waited for me as for the rain, And they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain. 24.   If I mocked at them, they did not believe it , And the light of my countenance they did not cast down. 25.   I chose the way for them, and sat as chief; So I dwelt as a king in the army, As one who comforts mourners.

1.   When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. 2.   And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3.   Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4.   saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." And they said, "What is that to us? You see to it !" 5.   Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6.   But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood." 7.   And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 8.   Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9.   Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, 10.   "and gave them for the potter’s field, as the LORD directed me." 11.   Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" So Jesus said to him, " It is as you say." 12.   And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. 13.   Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?" 14.   But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly. 15.   Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. 16.   And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17.   Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" 18.   For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy. 19.   While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him." 20.   But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21.   The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" They said, "Barabbas!" 22.   Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!" 23.   Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!" 24.   When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it ." 25.   And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children." 26.   Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.