Tuesday in Season after Pentecost

1Verse 1. After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 2Verse 2. But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.” 3Verse 3. “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they answered. “Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” 4Verse 4. But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labor!” 5Verse 5. Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor.” 6Verse 6. That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen: 7Verse 7. “You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw. 8Verse 8. But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9Verse 9. Make the work harder on the men so they will be occupied and pay no attention to these lies.” 10Verse 10. So the taskmasters and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am no longer giving you straw. 11Verse 11. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it; but your workload will in no way be reduced.’” 12Verse 12. So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13Verse 13. The taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “Fulfill your quota each day, just as you did when straw was provided.” 14Verse 14. Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over the people, were beaten and asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?” 15Verse 15. So the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way? 16Verse 16. No straw has been given to your servants, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.” 17Verse 17. “You are slackers!” Pharaoh replied. “Slackers! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18Verse 18. Now get to work. You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full quota of bricks.” 19Verse 19. The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce your daily quota of bricks.” 20Verse 20. When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them. 21Verse 21. “May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!” 22Verse 22. So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? 23Verse 23. Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.” 1Verse 1. But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let the people go; because of My strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2Verse 2. God also told Moses, “I am the LORD. 3Verse 3. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them. 4Verse 4. I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners. 5Verse 5. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant. 6Verse 6. Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7Verse 7. I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8Verse 8. And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’” 9Verse 9. Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him. 10Verse 10. So the LORD said to Moses, 11Verse 11. “Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.” 12Verse 12. But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech? ” 13Verse 13. Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

27Verse 27. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD. 1Verse 1. Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 2Verse 2. The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle, 3Verse 3. but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him. 4Verse 4. Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.” 5Verse 5. David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6Verse 6. Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.” 7Verse 7. Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8Verse 8. I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. 9Verse 9. Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10Verse 10. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ 11Verse 11. This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight. 12Verse 12. You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” 13Verse 13. Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die. 14Verse 14. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.” 15Verse 15. After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.