Monday in Season after Pentecost

9Verse 9. Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom. 10Verse 10. Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead. 11Verse 11. We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us. 12Verse 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions are indeed with us, and we know our iniquities: 13Verse 13. rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart. 14Verse 14. So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter. 15Verse 15. Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. 16Verse 16. He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him. 17Verse 17. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal. 18Verse 18. So He will repay according to their deeds: fury to His enemies, retribution to His foes, and recompense to the islands. 19Verse 19. So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.

1Verse 1. Then Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’” 2Verse 2. And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. 3Verse 3. “Throw it on the ground,” said the LORD. So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4Verse 4. “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail,” the LORD said to Moses, who reached out his hand and caught the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5Verse 5. “This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob — has appeared to you.” 6Verse 6. Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your cloak. ” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow. 7Verse 7. “Put your hand back inside your cloak,” said the LORD. So Moses put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his skin. 8Verse 8. And the LORD said, “If they refuse to believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe that of the second. 9Verse 9. But if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. Then the water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.” 10Verse 10. “Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.” 11Verse 11. And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12Verse 12. Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.” 13Verse 13. But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.” 14Verse 14. Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15Verse 15. You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do. 16Verse 16. He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him. 17Verse 17. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”