Day 36 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 25:13–22

¹³His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. ¹⁴The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them. ¹⁵My eyes are always on the LORD, for He will free my feet from the mesh. ¹⁶Turn to me and be gracious, for I am lonely and afflicted. ¹⁷The troubles of my heart increase; free me from my distress. ¹⁸Consider my affliction and trouble, and take away all my sins. ¹⁹Consider my enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with vicious hatred. ²⁰Guard my soul and deliver me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You. ²¹May integrity and uprightness preserve me, because I wait for You. ²²Redeem Israel, O God, from all its distress.

New Testament·Matthew 22:37–23:11

³⁷Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” ⁴¹While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus questioned them: ⁴²“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?” “David’s,” they answered. ⁴³Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says: ⁴⁴‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’ ⁴⁵So if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be David’s son?” ⁴⁶No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any further.

23Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: ²“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. ⁵All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. ⁶They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues, ⁷the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed. ⁸But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ. ¹¹The greatest among you shall be your servant.

Old Testament·Exodus 14–15

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ²“Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal-zephon. ³For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’ ⁴And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did. ⁵When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.” ⁶So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him. ⁷He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. ⁸And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly. ⁹The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon. ¹⁰As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD. ¹¹They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹²Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” ¹³But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. ¹⁴The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” ¹⁵Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. ¹⁶And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen. ¹⁸The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” ¹⁹And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them, ²⁰so that it came between the camps of Egypt and Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other. ²¹Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided, ²²and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. ²³And the Egyptians chased after them—all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen—and followed them into the sea. ²⁴At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion. ²⁵He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!” ²⁶Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” ²⁷So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea. ²⁸The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had chased the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. ²⁹But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. ³⁰That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore. ³¹When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.

15Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea. ²The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. ³The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name. ⁴Pharaoh’s chariots and army He has cast into the sea; the finest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. ⁵The depths have covered them; they sank there like a stone. ⁶Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy. ⁷You overthrew Your adversaries by Your great majesty. You unleashed Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble. ⁸At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea. ⁹The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’ ¹⁰But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. ¹¹Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders? ¹²You stretched out Your right hand, and the earth swallowed them up. ¹³With loving devotion You will lead the people You have redeemed; with Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling. ¹⁴The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia. ¹⁵Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away, ¹⁶and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by. ¹⁷You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance— the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established. ¹⁸The LORD will reign forever and ever!” ¹⁹For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. ²⁰Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing. ²¹And Miriam sang back to them: “Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.” ²²Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water. ²³And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.) ²⁴So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” ²⁵And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them, ²⁶saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” ²⁷Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.