Bible Society of South Africa

Season after Pentecost: Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

First reading and Psalm

Water from the Rock

1The whole Israelite community left the desert of Sin, moving from one place to another at the command of the LORD. They made camp at Rephidim, but there was no water there to drink. 2They complained to Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses answered, “Why are you complaining? Why are you putting the LORD to the test?”

3But the people were very thirsty and continued to complain to Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? To kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

4Moses prayed earnestly to the LORD and said, “What can I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

5The LORD said to Moses, “Take some of the leaders of Israel with you, and go on ahead of the people. Take along the stick with which you struck the Nile. 6I will stand before you on a rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” Moses did so in the presence of the leaders of Israel.

7The place was named Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites complained and put the LORD to the test when they asked, “Is the LORD with us or not?”

Exodus 17:1-7GNBOpen in Bible reader

God and his People

1Listen, my people, to my teaching,

and pay attention to what I say.

2I am going to use wise sayings

and explain mysteries from the past,

3things we have heard and known,

things that our ancestors told us.

4We will not keep them from our children;

we will tell the next generation

about the LORD's power and his great deeds

and the wonderful things he has done.

Psalms 78:1-4GNBOpen in Bible reader

12While their ancestors watched, God performed miracles

in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.

13He divided the sea and took them through it;

he made the waters stand like walls.

14By day he led them with a cloud

and all night long with the light of a fire.

15He split rocks open in the desert

and gave them water from the depths.

16He caused a stream to come out of the rock

and made water flow like a river.

Psalms 78:12-16GNBOpen in Bible reader
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