Through the Bible – Day 26

Bible text(s)

Exodus 15

The song of Moses

1Moses and the Israelites sang this song in praise of the LORD:

I sing praises to the LORD

for his great victory!

He has thrown the horses

and their riders

into the sea.

2The LORD is my strength,

the reason for my song,

because he has saved me.

I praise and honour the LORD

he is my God and the God

of my ancestors.

3The LORD is his name,

and he is a warrior!

4He threw the chariots and army

of Egypt's king

into the Red Sea,

and he drowned the best

of the king's officers.

5They sank to the bottom

just like stones.

6With the tremendous force

of your right arm, our LORD,

you crushed your enemies.

7What a great victory was yours,

as you defeated everyone

who opposed you.

Your fiery anger wiped them out,

as though they were straw.

8You were so furious

that the sea piled up

like a wall,

and the ocean depths

curdled like cheese.

9Your enemies boasted

that they would

pursue and capture us,

divide up our possessions,

treat us as they wished,

then take out their swords

and kill us there.

10But when you got furious,

they sank like lead,

swallowed by ocean waves.

11Our LORD, no other gods

compare with you—

Majestic and holy!

Fearsome and glorious!

Miracle worker!

12When you signalled

with your right hand,

your enemies were swallowed

deep into the earth.

13The people you rescued

were led by your powerful love

to your holy place.

14Nations learnt of this

and trembled—

Philistines shook with horror.

15The leaders of Edom and of Moab

were terrified.

Everyone in Canaan fainted,

16struck down by fear.

Our LORD, your powerful arm

kept them still as a rock

until the people you rescued

for your very own

had marched by.

17You will let your people settle

on your chosen mountain,

where you built your home

and your temple.

18Our LORD, you will rule for ever!

The song of Miriam

19The LORD covered the royal Egyptian cavalry and chariots with the sea, after the Israelites had walked safely through on dry ground. 20Miriam the sister of Aaron was a prophet. So she took her tambourine and led the other women out to play their tambourines and to dance. 21Then she sang to them:

“Sing praises to the LORD

for his great victory!

He has thrown the horses

and their riders into the sea.”

Moses leads the people to Mount Sinai

Bitter water at Marah

22After the Israelites left the Red Sea, Moses led them through the Shur Desert for three days, before finding water. 23They did find water at Marah, but it was bitter, which is how that place got its name. 24The people complained and said, “Moses, what are we going to drink?”

25Moses asked the LORD for help, and the LORD told him to throw a piece of wood into the water. Moses did so, and the water became fit to drink.

At Marah the LORD tested his people and also gave them some laws and teachings. 26Then he said, “I am the LORD your God, and I cure your diseases. If you obey me by doing right and by following my laws and teachings, I won't punish you with the diseases I sent on the Egyptians.”

27Later the Israelites came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees. So they camped there.

Exodus 16

The LORD sends food from heaven

1On the fifteenth day of the second month after the Israelites had escaped from Egypt, they left Elim and started through the western edge of the Sinai Desert in the direction of Mount Sinai. 2There in the desert they started complaining to Moses and Aaron, 3“We wish the LORD had killed us in Egypt. When we lived there, we could at least sit down and eat all the bread and meat we wanted. But you have brought us out here into this desert, where we are going to starve.”

4The LORD said to Moses, “I will send bread down from heaven like rain. Each day the people can go out and gather only enough for that day. That's how I will see if they obey me. 5But on the sixth day of each week they must gather and cook twice as much.”

6Moses and Aaron told the people, “This evening you will know that the LORD was the one who rescued you from Egypt. 7And in the morning you will see his glorious power, because he has heard your complaints against him. Why should you grumble to us? Who are we?”

8Then Moses continued, “You will know it is the LORD when he gives you meat each evening and more than enough bread each morning. He is really the one you are complaining about, not us—we are nobodies—but the LORD has heard your complaints.”

9Moses turned to Aaron and said, “Bring the people together, because the LORD has heard their complaints.”

10Aaron was speaking to them, when everyone looked out towards the desert and saw the bright glory of the LORD in a cloud. 11The LORD said to Moses, 12“I have heard my people complain. Now tell them that each evening they will have meat and each morning they will have more than enough bread. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.”

13That evening a lot of quails came and landed everywhere in the camp, and the next morning dew covered the ground. 14After the dew had gone, the desert was covered with thin flakes that looked like frost. 15The people had never seen anything like this, and they started asking each other, “What is it?”

Moses answered, “This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. 16And he orders you to gather about two litres for each person in your family—that should be more than enough.”

17They did as they were told. Some gathered more and some gathered less, 18according to their needs, and none was left over.

19Moses told them not to keep any overnight. 20Some of them disobeyed, but the next morning what they kept was stinking and full of worms, and Moses was angry.

21Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and in the heat of the day the rest melted. 22However, on the sixth day of the week, everyone gathered enough to have four litres, instead of two. When the leaders reported this to Moses, 23he told them that the LORD had said, “Tomorrow is the Sabbath, a sacred day of rest in honour of me. So gather all you want to bake or boil, and make sure you save enough for tomorrow.”

24The people obeyed, and the next morning the food smelt fine and had no worms. 25“You may eat the food,” Moses said. “Today is the Sabbath in honour of the LORD, and there won't be any of this food on the ground today. 26You will find it there for the first six days of the week, but not on the Sabbath.”

27A few of the Israelites did go out to look for some, but there was none. 28Then the LORD said, “Moses, how long will you people keep disobeying my laws and teachings? 29Remember that I was the one who gave you the Sabbath. That's why on the sixth day I provide enough bread for two days. Everyone is to stay at home and rest on the Sabbath.” 30And so they rested on the Sabbath.

31The Israelites called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and delicious as wafers made with honey. 32Moses told the people that the LORD had said, “Store up two litres of this manna, because I want future generations to see the food I gave you during the time you were in the desert after I rescued you from Egypt.”

33Then Moses told Aaron, “Put some manna in a jar and store it in the place of worship for future generations to see.”

34Aaron followed the LORD's instructions and put the manna in front of the sacred chest for safekeeping. 35-36The Israelites ate manna for forty years, before they came to the border of Canaan that was a settled land.

Exodus 15:1-16:36CEVOpen in Bible reader

Matthew 16

A demand for a sign from heaven

1The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tried to test him by asking for a sign from heaven. 2He told them:

If the sky is red in the evening, you say the weather will be good. 3But if the sky is red and gloomy in the morning, you say it is going to rain. You can tell what the weather will be like by looking at the sky. But you don't understand what is happening now. 4You want a sign because you are evil and won't believe! But the only sign you will be given is what happened to Jonah.

Then Jesus left.

The yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

5The disciples had forgotten to bring any bread when they crossed the lake. 6Jesus then warned them, “Watch out! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

7The disciples talked this over and said to each other, “He must be saying this because we didn't bring along any bread.”

8Jesus knew what they were thinking and said:

You don't have much faith! Why are you talking about not having any bread? 9Don't you understand? Have you forgotten about the five thousand people and all those baskets of leftovers from just five loaves of bread? 10And what about the four thousand people and all those baskets of leftovers from only seven loaves of bread? 11Don't you know by now that I am not talking to you about bread? Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!

12Finally, the disciples understood that Jesus wasn't talking about the yeast used to make bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Who is Jesus?

13When Jesus and his disciples were near the town of Caesarea Philippi, he asked them, “What do people say about the Son of Man?”

14The disciples answered, “Some people say you are John the Baptist or perhaps Elijah or Jeremiah or some other prophet.”

15Then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

16Simon Peter spoke up, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17Jesus told him:

Simon, son of Jonah, you are blessed! You didn't discover this on your own. It was shown to you by my Father in heaven. 18So I will call you Peter, which means “a rock”. On this rock I will build my church, and death itself will not have any power over it. 19I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth. But he will not allow anything that you don't allow.

20Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Matthew 16:1-20CEVOpen in Bible reader
Canadian Bible Societyv.4.26.9
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