One Year Pray for America Bible - Flipbook - Page 113
103
January 27
Lord, help us to get over ourselves, to see past our own
desires so we can embrace what’s best for our nation.
I pray that, throughout our land, we will see past the
partisan and worry less about ourselves and more
about others. Amen.
EXODUS 4:1–5:21
But Moses protested again, “What if
they won’t believe me or listen to me?
What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”
2 Then the Lord asked him, “What
is that in your hand?”
“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.
3 “Throw it down on the ground,”
the Lord told him. So Moses threw
down the staff, and it turned into a
snake! Moses jumped back.
4 Then the Lord told him, “Reach
out and grab its tail.” So M
oses
reached out and grabbed it, and it
turned back into a shepherd’s staff in
his hand.
5 “Perform this sign,” the Lord told
him. “Then they will believe that the
Lord, the God of their ancestors—the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob—really has appeared
to you.”
6 Then the Lord said to M
oses, “Now
put your hand inside your cloak.” So
Moses put his hand inside his cloak,
and when he took it out again, his
hand was white as snow with a severe
skin disease.* 7 “Now put your hand
back into your cloak,” the Lord said.
So Moses put his hand back in, and
when he took it out again, it was as
healthy as the rest of his body.
8 The Lord said to M
oses, “If they
do not believe you and are not convinced by the first miraculous sign,
they will be convinced by the second
on’t believe you
sign. 9 And if they d
or listen to you even after these two
signs, then take some water from
the Nile River and pour it out on the
dry ground. When you do, the water
from the Nile will turn to blood on the
ground.”
10 But M
oses pleaded with the Lord,
“O Lord, I’m not very good with words.
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JANUARY
I never have been, and I’m not now,
even though you have spoken to me.
I get tongue-tied, and my words get
tangled.”
11 Then the Lord asked M
oses, “Who
makes a person’s mouth? Who decides
whether people speak or do not speak,
hear or do not hear, see or do not see?
Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go! I will
be with you as you speak, and I will
instruct you in what to say.”
13 But M
oses again pleaded, “Lord,
please! Send anyone else.”
14 Then the Lord became angry with
Moses. “All right,” he said. “What
about your brother, Aaron the Levite?
I know he speaks well. And look! He
is on his way to meet you now. He will
be delighted to see you. 15 Talk to him,
and put the words in his mouth. I will
be with both of you as you speak, and
I will instruct you both in what to do.
16 Aaron will be your spokesman to the
people. He will be your mouthpiece,
and you will stand in the place of God
for him, telling him what to say. 17 And
take your shepherd’s staff with you,
and use it to perform the miraculous
signs I have shown you.”
18 So M
oses went back home to
Jethro, his father-in-law. “Please let
me return to my relatives in Egypt,”
Moses said. “I d
on’t even know if they
are still alive.”
“Go in peace,” Jethro replied.
19 Before
Moses left Mid
i
an, the
Lord said to him, “Return to Egypt,
for all those who wanted to kill you
have died.”
20 So Moses took his wife and sons,
put them on a donkey, and headed
back to the land of Egypt. In his hand
he carried the staff of God.
21 And the Lord told M
oses, “When
you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pha
raoh and perform all the miracles I
