Sunday 3 March 2013

1Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro,his father-in-law,the priest of Midian,and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness,and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb.2The Lord’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush.He looked, and behold,the bush burned with fire,and the bush was not consumed.3Moses said, “I will go now,and see this great sight,why the bush is not burned.”

4When the Lord saw that he came over to see,God called to him out of the middle of the bush,and said, “Moses! Moses!”

He said, “Here I am.”

5He said, “Don’t come close.Take off your sandals,for the place you are standing on is holy ground.”6Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father,the God of Abraham,the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

7The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt,and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters,for I know their sorrows.8I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,and to bring them up out ofthat land to a good and large land,to a land flowing with milk and honey;to the place of the Canaanite,the Hittite, the Amorite,the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

· · · verses 9–12 are not read13Moses said to God,“Behold, when I come to the children of Israel,and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’what should I tell them?”

14God said to Moses,“I AM WHO I AM,” and he said,“You shall tell the children of Israel this:‘I AM has sent me to you.’”15God said moreover to Moses,“You shall tell the children of Israel this,‘The Lord, the God of your fathers,the God of Abraham,the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,has sent me to you.’This is my name forever,and this is my memorial to all generations.

1Praise the Lord, my soul!All that is within me, praise his holy name!2Praise the Lord, my soul,and don’t forget all his benefits,

3who forgives all your sins,who heals all your diseases,4who redeems your life from destruction,who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,

6The Lord executes righteous acts,and justice for all who are oppressed.7He made known his ways to Moses,his deeds to the children of Israel.

8The Lord is merciful and gracious,slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.11For as the heavens are high above the earth,so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.

1Now I would not have you ignorant,brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud,and all passed through the sea;2and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;3and all ate the same spiritual food;4and all drank the same spiritual drink.For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them,and the rock was Christ.5However with most of them,God was not well pleased,for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6Now these things were our examples,to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.· · · verses 7–9 are not read10Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled,and perished by the destroyer.11Now all these things happened to them by way of example,and they were written for our admonition,on whom the ends of the ages have come.12Therefore let him who thinks he stands be carefulthat he doesn’t fall.

1Now there were some present at the same timewho told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.2Jesus answered them,“Do you thinkthat these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans,because they suffered such things?3I tell you, no, but unless you repent,you will all perish in the same way.4Or those eighteen onwhom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them—do you thinkthat they were worse offenders than all the menwho dwell in Jerusalem?5I tell you, no, but,unless you repent,you will all perish in the same way.”

6He spoke this parable.“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard,and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.7He said to the vine dresser,‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none.Cut it down!Why does it waste the soil?’8He answered, ‘Lord,leave it alone this year also,until I dig around it and fertilize it.9If it bears fruit, fine;but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’”