Meditate

Exodus 3

3. The Burning Bush

Moses at the Burning Bush

 3

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.²There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.³Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.”⁴When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”⁵Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”⁶He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings,⁸and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.⁹The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.¹⁰So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”¹¹But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”¹²He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

The Divine Name Revealed

¹³ But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”¹⁴God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, 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 my title for all generations.

¹⁶ Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given heed to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.¹⁷I declare that I will bring you up out of the misery of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.’¹⁸They will listen to your voice; and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; let us now go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’¹⁹I know, however, that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.²⁰So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will perform in it; after that he will let you go.²¹I will bring this people into such favor with the Egyptians that, when you go, you will not go empty-handed;²²each woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman living in the neighbor’s house for jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; and so you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Romans 11:22-24

11. The Remnant of Israel

²²Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.²³And even those of Israel, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.²⁴For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.

Psalm 65

65. Psalm 65

Psalm 65

Thanksgiving for Earth’s Bounty

To the leader. A Psalm of David. A Song.

1

Praise is due to you,

O God, in Zion;

and to you shall vows be performed,

2

O you who answer prayer!

To you all flesh shall come.

3

When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,

you forgive our transgressions.

4

Happy are those whom you choose and bring near

to live in your courts.

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,

your holy temple.

 

5

By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,

O God of our salvation;

you are the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas.

6

By your strength you established the mountains;

you are girded with might.

7

You silence the roaring of the seas,

the roaring of their waves,

the tumult of the peoples.

8

Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;

you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

 

9

You visit the earth and water it,

you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water;

you provide the people with grain,

for so you have prepared it.

10

You water its furrows abundantly,

settling its ridges,

softening it with showers,

and blessing its growth.

11

You crown the year with your bounty;

your wagon tracks overflow with richness.

12

The pastures of the wilderness overflow,

the hills gird themselves with joy,

13

the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,

the valleys deck themselves with grain,

they shout and sing together for joy.