Wednesday, 13 March

1.   And the LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones , and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. 2.   "So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain. 3.   "And no man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain." 4.   So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones . Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. 5.   Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6.   And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7.   "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty , visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation." 8.   So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9.   Then he said, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff–necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance." 10.   And He said: "Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. 11.   "Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12.   "Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. 13.   "But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images 14.   ‘(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15.   "lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, 16.   "and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods. 17.   "You shall make no molded gods for yourselves. 18.   "The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt. 19.   "All that open the womb are Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep. 20.   "But the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem him , then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before Me empty–handed. 21.   "Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22.   "And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. 23.   "Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the LORD God of Israel. 24.   "For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year. 25.   "You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning. 26.   "The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk." 27.   Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28.   So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. 29.   Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30.   So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31.   Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32.   Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33.   And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34.   But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35.   And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.

1.   Vindicate me, O God, And plead my cause against an ungodly nation; Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! 2.   For You are the God of my strength; Why do You cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 3.   Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle. 4.   Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God. 5.   Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

1.   <> We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old: 2.   You drove out the nations with Your hand, But them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out. 3.   For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them. 4.   You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob. 5.   Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us. 6.   For I will not trust in my bow, Nor shall my sword save me. 7.   But You have saved us from our enemies, And have put to shame those who hated us. 8.   In God we boast all day long, And praise Your name forever. Selah 9.   But You have cast us off and put us to shame, And You do not go out with our armies. 10.   You make us turn back from the enemy, And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. 11.   You have given us up like sheep intended for food, And have scattered us among the nations. 12.   You sell Your people for next to nothing, And are not enriched by selling them. 13.   You make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and a derision to those all around us. 14.   You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples. 15.   My dishonor is continually before me, And the shame of my face has covered me, 16.   Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the enemy and the avenger. 17.   All this has come upon us; But we have not forgotten You, Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant. 18.   Our heart has not turned back, Nor have our steps departed from Your way; 19.   But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death. 20.   If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 21.   Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. 22.   Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 23.   Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever. 24.   Why do You hide Your face, And forget our affliction and our oppression? 25.   For our soul is bowed down to the dust; Our body clings to the ground. 26.   Arise for our help, And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.

22.   Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely , Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. 23.   They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. 24.   Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, " You must be circumcised and keep the law" ––to whom we gave no such commandment–– 25.   it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26.   men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27.   We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28.   For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29.   that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. 30.   So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 31.   When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. 32.   Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. 33.   And after they had stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles. 34.   However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. 35.   Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. 36.   Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing." 37.   Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. 38.   But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. 39.   Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; 40.   but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. 41.   And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.