Exodus 17 - 18, John 1:35-2:25, Psalms 60 - 61

Water from the Rock

17Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by ¹stages from the wilderness of ^aSin, according to the ²command of Yahweh, and they camped at ^bRephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. ²Therefore the people ^acontended with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “^bWhy do you contend with me? ^cWhy do you test Yahweh?” ³But the people thirsted there for water; and ¹they ^agrumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to put ²us and ³our children and ⁴^,^bour livestock to death with thirst?” ⁴So Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A ^alittle more and they will stone me.” ⁵Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of ^athe elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which ^byou struck the Nile, and go. ⁶“Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at ^aHoreb; and ^byou shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷So he named the place ¹^,^aMassah and ²^,^bMeribah because of the contending of the sons of Israel, and because they ^ctested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us or not?”

Israel Overwhelms Amalek

⁸Then ^aAmalek came and fought against Israel at ^bRephidim. ⁹So Moses said to ^aJoshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will take my stand on the top of the hill with ^bthe staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰And Joshua did as Moses ¹told him, to fight against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and ^aHur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹So it happened when Moses raised his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand ¹down, Amalek prevailed. ¹²But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur ^asupported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. ¹³So Joshua ¹overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

¹⁴Then Yahweh said to Moses, “^aWrite this in ¹a book as a memorial and ²recite it in Joshua’s hearing, ³that ^bI will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵And Moses built an ^aaltar and named it ^bYahweh is My Banner; ¹⁶and he said, “^aBecause He has sworn with a hand upon the throne of Yah, Yahweh will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.”

Jethro’s Counsel

18Now ^aJethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. ²And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife ^aZipporah, after he had sent her away, ³and her ^atwo sons, of whom ¹one was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have been ^ba ²sojourner in a foreign land.” ⁴¹And the other was named ²^,^aEliezer, for he said, “^bThe God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

⁵Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses ¹in the wilderness where he was camped, at ^athe mount of God. ⁶And he ¹sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” ⁷Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and ^ahe bowed down and ^bkissed him; and they ^casked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. ⁸And Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians ^afor Israel’s sake, all the ^bhardship that had befallen them on the journey, and how ^cYahweh had delivered them. ⁹And Jethro rejoiced over all ^athe goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, that He had delivered ¹them from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰So Jethro said, “^aBlessed be Yahweh who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹“Now I know that ^aYahweh is greater than all the gods; ¹for ^bin this matter they acted presumptuously against ²the people.” ¹²^aThen Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat ¹a meal with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

¹³Now it happened the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. ¹⁴And Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, so he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?” ¹⁵And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me ^ato inquire of God. ¹⁶“When they have a ^amatter, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.” ¹⁷And Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. ¹⁸“^aYou will surely wear out, both yourself and ¹these people who are with you, for the ²task is too heavy for you; ^byou cannot do it alone. ¹⁹“Now listen to my voice: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. ¹You be the people’s representative before God, and you ^abring the matters to God; ²⁰^athen warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them ^bthe way in which they shall go and the work they shall do. ²¹“But you shall ¹select ^aexcellent men out of all the people, ^bthose who fear God, men of truth, those who ^chate greedy gain; and you shall place these men over them as leaders of thousands, ²of hundreds, ³of fifties, and ⁴of tens. ²²“And they will judge the people at all times. And it will be ^athat every major matter they will bring to you, but every minor matter they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and ^bthey will bear the burden with you. ²³“If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to ¹endure, and all ²these people also will go to ³their place in peace.”

²⁴So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ²⁵And Moses chose ^aexcellent men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, ¹of hundreds, ²of fifties, and ³of tens. ²⁶And they judged the people at all times; ^athe difficult matter they would bring to Moses, but every minor matter they themselves would judge. ²⁷Then Moses ¹^,^alet his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.

Behold, the Lamb of God

³⁵^aOn the next day, John again was standing ¹with two of his disciples, ³⁶and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, ^athe Lamb of God!” ³⁷And the two disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus. ³⁸And when Jesus turned and noticed them following, He *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “^aRabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day. It was about the ¹tenth hour. ⁴⁰^aOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the ^aMessiah” (which translated means ¹Christ). ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. When Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of ^aJohn; you shall be called ^bCephas” (which is translated ¹^,^cPeter).

⁴³^aOn the next day, He desired to go into ^bGalilee, and He *found ^cPhilip. And Jesus *said to him, “^dFollow Me.” ⁴⁴Now ^aPhilip was from ^bBethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵^aPhilip *found ^bNathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^cMoses in the Law and also ^dthe Prophets wrote—Jesus of ^eNazareth, ^fthe son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶And Nathanael said to him, “^aCan any good thing come out of Nazareth?” ^bPhilip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said about him, “Behold, truly an ^aIsraelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael *said to Him, “From where do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before ^aPhilip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael answered Him, “^aRabbi, You are ^bthe Son of God; You are the ^cKing of Israel.” ⁵⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see ^athe heavens opened and ^bthe angels of God ascending and descending on ^cthe Son of Man.”

The Wedding at Cana

2And on ^athe third day there was a wedding in ^bCana of Galilee, and the ^cmother of Jesus was there; ²and both Jesus and His ^adisciples were invited to the wedding. ³And when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.” ⁴And Jesus *said to her, “^aWoman, ¹^,^bwhat do I have to do with you? ^cMy hour has not yet come.” ⁵His ^amother *said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” ⁶Now there were six stone water jars set there ^afor the Jewish custom of purification, containing ¹two or three measures each. ⁷Jesus *said to them, “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. ⁸And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. ⁹Now when the headwaiter tasted the water ^awhich had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the bridegroom, ¹⁰and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people ^ahave ¹drunk freely, then the inferior wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹Jesus did this in Cana of ^aGalilee as the beginning of His ¹^,^bsigns, and manifested His ^cglory, and His disciples believed in Him.

¹²After this He went down to ^aCapernaum, He and His ^bmother and His ^cbrothers and His ^ddisciples; and they stayed there a few days.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹³^aAnd the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus ^bwent up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴^aAnd He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; ¹⁶and to those who were selling ^athe doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making ^bMy Father’s house a ¹place of business.” ¹⁷His ^adisciples remembered that it was written, “^bZeal for Your house will consume me.” ¹⁸^aThe Jews then said to Him, “^bWhat sign do You show us ¹as your authority for doing these things?” ¹⁹Jesus answered them, “^aDestroy this ¹sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰^aThe Jews then said, “It took ^bforty-six years to build this sanctuary, and will You raise it up in three days?” ²¹But He was speaking about ^athe sanctuary of His body. ²²So when He was raised from the dead, His ^adisciples ^bremembered that He said this; and they believed ^cthe Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

²³Now when He was in Jerusalem at ^athe Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, ^bwhen they saw His signs which He was doing. ²⁴But Jesus, ¹on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for ^aHe knew all men, ²⁵and because He had no need that anyone bear witness concerning man, ^afor He Himself knew what was in man.

Through God We Shall Do Valiantly

For the choir director. According to ¹Shushan Eduth. A ²Mikhtam of David. For teaching. ³When he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

O God, ^aYou have rejected us. You have ⁴^,^bbroken us;You have been ^cangry; Oh, ^drestore us.²You have made the ¹^,^aland quake, You have split it open;^bHeal its breaches, for it shakes.³You have ^acaused Your people to see hardship;You have given us ¹wine to ^bdrink that causes reeling.⁴You have given a ^abanner to those who fear You,¹In order to flee to it from the bow. ² Selah.⁵^aThat Your ^bbeloved may be rescued,^cSave with Your right hand, and answer ¹us!⁶God has spoken in His ¹^,^aholiness:“I will exult, I will portion out ^bShechem and measure out the valley of ^cSuccoth.⁷“^aGilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;^bEphraim also is the ¹helmet of My head;Judah is My ²^,^cscepter.⁸“^aMoab is My washbowl;Over ^bEdom I shall throw My shoe;Make a loud shout, O ^cPhilistia, because of Me!”⁹Who will bring me into the fortified city?Who ¹will lead me to Edom?¹⁰Have You Yourself, O God, not ^arejected us?And ^bwill You, O God, not go forth with our armies?¹¹Oh give us help against the adversary,For ^asalvation ¹by man is worthless.¹²¹Through God we shall ^ado valiantly,And it is He who will ^btread down our adversaries.

Lead Me to the Rock

For the choir director. On a stringed instrument. Of David.

^aHear my cry of lamentation, O God;^bGive heed to my prayer.²From the ^aend of the earth I call to You when my heart is ^bfaint;Lead me to ^cthe rock that is higher than I.³For You have been a ^arefuge for me,A ^btower of strength before the enemy.⁴Let me ^asojourn in Your tent forever;Let me ^btake refuge in the shelter of Your wings. ¹ Selah.⁵For You, O God, have heard my ^avows;You have given me the inheritance of those who ^bfear Your name.⁶You will ^aadd days to the king’s ¹life;His years will be from generation to generation.⁷He will sit enthroned ^abefore God forever;Appoint ^blovingkindness and truth that they may guard him.⁸So I will ^asing praise to Your name forever,As I ^bpay my vows day by day.