Open Word

FIRST READING

Exodus 6:1-13

Verse 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.” Verse 2. God also told Moses, “I am the LORD. Verse 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. Verse 4. I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners. Verse 5. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant. Verse 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. Verse 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. Verse 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!’” Verse 9. Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him. Verse 10. So the LORD said to Moses, Verse 11. “Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.” Verse 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? ” Verse 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.

PSALM

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling— my refuge, the Most High—

no evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent.

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.

“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.

When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

SECOND READING

Acts 7:35-42

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.’ Verse 41. At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands. Verse 42. But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?