Friday in Lent — Open Word

FIRST READING

Exodus 19:9b-15

Verse 9. The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in you.” And Moses relayed to the LORD what the people had said. Verse 10. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes Verse 11. and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Verse 12. And you are to set up a boundary for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up on the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. Verse 13. No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows — whether man or beast, he must not live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain. ” Verse 14. When Moses came down from the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. Verse 15. “Be prepared for the third day,” he said to the people. “Do not draw near to a woman.”

PSALM

Psalm 19

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

Without speech or language, without a sound to be heard,

their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.

Like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course,

it rises at one end of the heavens and runs its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true, being altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

By them indeed Your servant is warned; in keeping them is great reward.

Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed of great transgression.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SECOND READING

Acts 7:30-40

Verse 30. After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. Verse 31. When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came to him: Verse 32. ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. Verse 33. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. Verse 34. I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’ Verse 35. This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. Verse 36. He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness. Verse 37. This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’ Verse 38. He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us. Verse 39. But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. Verse 40. They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’