Exodus 15
ISRAEL’S SONG
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said:
I will sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted;
he has thrown the horse
and its rider into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song;
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 He threw Pharaoh’s chariots
and his army into the sea;
the elite of his officers
were drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they sank to the depths like a stone.
6 Lord, your right hand is glorious in power.
Lord, your right hand shattered the enemy.
7 You overthrew your adversaries
by your great majesty.
You unleashed your burning wrath;
it consumed them like stubble.
8 The water heaped up at the blast from your nostrils;
the currents stood firm like a dam.
The watery depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said:
“I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil.
My desire will be gratified at their expense.
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 Lord, who is like you among the gods?
Who is like you, glorious in holiness,
revered with praises, performing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand,
and the earth swallowed them.
13 With your faithful love,
you will lead the people
you have redeemed;
you will guide them to your holy dwelling
with your strength.
14 When the peoples hear, they will shudder;
anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified;
trembling will seize the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan will panic;
16 terror and dread will fall on them.
They will be as still as a stone
because of your powerful arm
until your people pass by, Lord,
until the people whom you purchased pass by.
17 You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of your possession;
Lord, you have prepared the place
for your dwelling;
Lord, your hands have established the sanctuary.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever!
19 When Pharaoh’s horses with his chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought the water of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 20 Then the prophetess Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women came out following her with tambourines and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them:
Sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted;
he has thrown the horse
and its rider into the sea.
WATER PROVIDED
22 Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water. 23 They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter — that is why it was named Marah. 24 The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink? ” 25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable.
The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there. 26 He said, “If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy date palms, and they camped there by the water.
Luke 18
THE PARABLE OF THE PERSISTENT WIDOW
Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up.
2 “There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect people. 3 And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people, 5 yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.’ ”
6 Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them? 8 I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? ”
THE PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves 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 was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people — greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’
13 “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner! ’ 14 I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
BLESSING THE CHILDREN
15 People were bringing infants to him so that he might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 Jesus, however, invited them:“Let the little children come to me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
THE RICH YOUNG RULER
18 A ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? ”
19 “Why do you call me good? ” Jesus asked him.“No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.”
21 “I have kept all these from my youth,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he told him,“You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 After he heard this, he became extremely sad, because he was very rich.
POSSESSIONS AND THE KINGDOM
24 Seeing that he became sad, Jesus said,“How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For 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 asked, “Then who can be saved? ”
27 He replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
28 Then Peter said, “Look, we have left what we had and followed you.”
29 So he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers or sisters, parents or children because of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more at this time, and eternal life in the age to come.”
THE THIRD PREDICTION OF HIS DEATH
31 Then he took the Twelve aside and told them,“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked, insulted, spit on; 33 and after they flog him, they will kill him, and he will rise on the third day.”
34 They understood none of these things. The meaning of the saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
A BLIND MAN RECEIVES HIS SIGHT
35 As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36 Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what was happening. 37 “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by,” they told him.
38 So he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! ” 39 Then those in front told him to keep quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me! ”
40 Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to him. When he came closer, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you? ”
“Lord,” he said, “I want to see.”
42 “Receive your sight,” Jesus told him.“Your faith has saved you.” 43 Instantly he could see, and he began to follow him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Job 33
ELIHU CONFRONTS JOB
But now, Job, pay attention to my speech,
and listen to all my words.
2 I am going to open my mouth;
my tongue will form words on my palate.
3 My words come from my upright heart,
and my lips speak with sincerity what they know.
4 The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 Refute me if you can.
Prepare your case against me; take your stand.
6 I am just like you before God;
I was also pinched off from a piece of clay.
7 Fear of me should not terrify you;
no pressure from me should weigh you down.
8 Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
and I have heard these very words:
9 “I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean and have no iniquity.
10 But he finds reasons to oppose me;
he regards me as his enemy.
11 He puts my feet in the stocks;
he stands watch over all my paths.”
12 But I tell you that you are wrong in this matter,
since God is greater than man.
13 Why do you take him to court
for not answering anything a person asks?
14 For God speaks time and again,
but a person may not notice it.
15 In a dream, a vision in the night,
when deep sleep comes over people
as they slumber on their beds,
16 he uncovers their ears
and terrifies them with warnings,
17 in order to turn a person from his actions
and suppress the pride of a person.
18 God spares his soul from the Pit,
his life from crossing the river of death.
19 A person may be disciplined on his bed with pain
and constant distress in his bones,
20 so that he detests bread,
and his soul despises his favorite food.
21 His flesh wastes away to nothing,
and his unseen bones stick out.
22 He draws near to the Pit,
and his life to the executioners.
23 If there is an angel on his side,
one mediator out of a thousand,
to tell a person what is right for him
24 and to be gracious to him and say,
“Spare him from going down to the Pit;
I have found a ransom,”
25 then his flesh will be healthier than in his youth,
and he will return to the days of his youthful vigor.
26 He will pray to God, and God will delight in him.
That person will see his face with a shout of joy,
and God will restore his righteousness to him.
27 He will look at men and say,
“I have sinned and perverted what was right;
yet I did not get what I deserved.
28 He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
and I will continue to see the light.”
29 God certainly does all these things
two or three times to a person
30 in order to turn him back from the Pit,
so he may shine with the light of life.
31 Pay attention, Job, and listen to me.
Be quiet, and I will speak.
32 But if you have something to say, answer me;
speak, for I would like to justify you.
33 If not, then listen to me;
be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.
2 Corinthians 3
LIVING LETTERS
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you?
2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are Christ’s letter, delivered by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God — not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
PAUL’S COMPETENCE
4 Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God. 6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
NEW COVENANT MINISTRY
7 Now if the ministry that brought death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses’s face because of its glory, which was set aside, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry that brought condemnation had glory, the ministry that brings righteousness overflows with even more glory. 10 In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was set aside was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.
12 Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness. 13 We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadily until the end of the glory of what was being set aside, 14 but their minds were hardened. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. 15 Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
— Exodus 15, Luke 18, Job 33, 2 Corinthians 3 (CSB)