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Exodus chapter 17. Water from the rock. All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim. But there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? But the people thirsted there for water. And the people grumbled against Moses and said, why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? So Moses cried to the Lord, what shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarreling of the people of Israel and because they tested the Lord by saying, is the Lord among us or not? Israel defeats Amalek. Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. So Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. And whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar and called the name of it. The LORD is my banner saying, a hand upon the throne of the Lord. The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Exodus chapter 18. Jethro's advice Jethro the priest of Midian Moses, father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, his people. How the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Now Jethro Moses, father in law, had taken Zipporah, Moses wife, after he had sent her home along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom, for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land. And the name of the other, Eliezer. For he said, the God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. Jethro Moses, father in law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. And when he sent word to Moses, I, your father in law, Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her. Moses went out to meet his father in law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. Then Moses told his father in law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel in that he had delivered them. And out of the hand of the Egyptians. Jethro said, blessed be the Lord who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people. And Jethro Moses, father in law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses, father in law, before God. The next day, Moses sat to judge the people. And the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses, father in law, saw all that he was doing for the people, he he said, what is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone and all the people stand around you from morning till evening? And Moses said to his father in law, because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws. Moses, father in law, said to him, what you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it. Alone. Now obey my voice. I will give you advice, and God be with you. You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God. And you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe. And place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you. But any small matter they shall decide themselves, so it will be easier for you. And they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you. You will be able to endure. And all this people also will go to their place in peace. So Moses listened to the voice of his Father in law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people. Chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. Then Moses let his Father in law depart, and he went away to his own country. The Book of Mark, chapter 1, verses 1 to 28. John the Baptist prepares the way. The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah, the prophet. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, after me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. The baptism of Jesus. In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water immediately, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, you are, my beloved Son. With you I am well pleased. The temptation of Jesus. The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals. And the angels were ministering to him. Jesus begins his ministry now. After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel. Jesus calls the first disciples. Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. Jesus heals a man with an unclean spirit. And they went into Capernaum. And immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, be silent and come out of him. And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, what is this? A new teaching? With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of galilee. Psalm chapter 30, verses 1 through 7. Joy comes with the morning. I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord, my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol, you restored me to life. From among those who go down to the pit, Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name, for his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. As for me, I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved by your favor. O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong. You hid your face. I was dismayed.