The Latest Form of Infidelity

Whipping for Health Care Reform

Administrator — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:20:05 +0000

Today as the Senate prepares to consider health care reform legislation I took the time to write several Senators urging them to support the bill being placed before them. If you have time and support health care reform you might want to use these letters as models for your own.

Dear Senators Harry Reid, Dick Durbin and Charles Schumer:

I am writing to express my support for the Patient Protection and Affordable Act now before the Senate. The United States needs health care reform and while this bill is far from perfect it will ensure that around 94% of Americans have health care coverage, a major improvement over the current situation. Importantly it will also help to curb health care costs over the long run. I hope that as part of the legislative process you will consider an amendment to allow for the creation of single payer health care at the state level. As demonstrated by the experiences of most other industrialized countries, single payer is the best way to manage a health care system over the long term.

That aside, the major reason why I am writing to you is to urge you to strip Senator Lieberman of his chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs if he fails to support the Patient Protection and Affordable Act. If Senator Lieberman cannot support the Democratic Caucus as the Senate considers probably the most important piece of legislation before it during my lifetime then he does not deserve to be numbered among the Caucus’s leaders.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Colin Bossen

Dear Senator Joseph Lieberman:

I am writing to urge you to support the Patient Protection and Affordable Act now before the Senate. The United States needs health care reform and while this bill is far from perfect it will ensure that around 94% of Americans have health care coverage, a major improvement over the current situation. Importantly it will also help to curb health care costs over the long run.

It is time now to demonstrate whether you are a member of the Democratic Caucus for your own political expediency or because you genuinely care about the American people. Concurrent with this letter I am writing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin and Vice Chair of the Conference Charles Schumer to urge them to strip you of chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs if you fail to support this legislation. I also pledge to send a campaign donation to any progressive Democratic or third party candidate who runs against you in 2012 if vote fail to support the Democratic Caucus at this critical juncture.

Please, Senator Lieberman, make the right choice for the country and yourself and support the Patient Protection and Affordable Act.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Colin Bossen

Dear Senator Voinovich:

I am writing to urge you to support the Patient Protection and Affordable Act now before the Senate. The United States needs health care reform and while this bill is far from perfect it will ensure that around 94% of Americans have health care coverage, a major improvement over the current situation. Importantly, it will also help to curb health care costs over the long run.

Back in August you wrote me to express that you were opposed to health care reform because it would add to the national debt. Now it appears that the legislation will largely be deficit neutral and that over time it will save middle income Americans money, allowing them increase their consumer spending and investment in small businesses. Over the course of many years this should spur economic growth and, in turn, greater tax collection, allowing the government to reduce the national debt. I hope that you will express a consistent position and as a sign of your concern for the long term state of the economy and the national debt vote in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Act. Anything less would hypocritical.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Colin Bossen

Pulpit Editorial: The Imperial Avenue Murders

Administrator — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:56:18 +0000

Pulpit Editorial given at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, November 8, 2009

I worked for several years with the indigenous women’s weaver cooperative Jolom Mayaetik in Chiapas, Mexico. The women had self-organized to better find a market for their handmade goods, to support their families and to struggle for justice in their communities. Frequently during my conversations with the collective’s members they would remind me that as poor indigenous women they were triply oppressed. They were oppressed for being poor, they were oppressed for being indigenous and they were oppressed for being women.

Over the last week as our community has struggled to make sense of a series horrific murders and rapes I have returned again and again to the words of my indigenous friends. Here in the United States the victims of alleged serial killer Anthony Sowell were quadruply oppressed. They were oppressed for being women, for being poor, for being people of color and for struggling substance abuse. Their quadruple oppression made them ideal targets for a serial killer. Their marginalization meant society held them to have little value and their disappearance to be of little significance. As Phillip Morris wrote in Friday’s Plain Dealer, "The life of a missing black woman isn’t worth that much on the streets of Cleveland. If I’ve done my math right, a black woman is worth roughly a $1.50 plus tax." That is the cost for the bottle of malt liquor which Sowell used to lure his victims back to his home.

I doubt that actions like Sowell’s would have gone unnoticed in a wealthier community. Where I live the city is bound to give you trouble if you put out your trash too early. The neighbors have organized to monitor a house with loud student parties and suspected drug dealing. The police are generally responsive to complaints about crime or public nuisances. It is hard for me to imagine that the foul odor of rotting flesh would long be tolerated.

On nearby 123rd and Imperial it was. I suspect that part of reason why is that in such neighborhoods the police are more present to monitor residents than to protect them. Poverty has a high price. Many aspects of it have been criminalized. The systematic racism of our society has caused police to harass and prosecute many for what essentially amount to victimless or non-violent crimes–prostitution or drug use, for instance. Instead of seeking help for their problems many seek to avoid all contact with the authorities.

When I learn of crimes like Sowell’s I cannot help but think we are bear some guilt for participating in a society that marginalizes poor black women. I understand that Sowell’s crimes are certainly not my own. At the same time I see myself and society failing to live up to the vision articulated by the first principle of our Unitarian Universalist Association, "the inherent worth and dignity of every person". And then I am forced to recommit myself to the Sisyphean task of somehow trying to change these systems: by learning how I am complicit in them nad by seeking to transform them . It is the work of the generations and cannot be accomplished in my lifetime. But what else is there to do but try? Otherwise I would be left only with rage and despair.

Unitarian, Universalist and Unitarian Universalist Martyrs

Administrator — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:50:00 +0000

For my congregation’s Day of the Dead service on Sunday I am reading a list of Unitarian, Universalist and Unitarian Universalist martyrs. The list includes a number of proto-Unitarians or proto-Universalists. I include these people because they were killed because they held a unitarian or universalist theology. My source for this list is primarily This Day In Unitarian Universalist History by Frank Schulman (who following up on my last post had Jewish ancestry). If anyone out there has some additions they’d like made to the list let me know…

Ludwig Hetzer, beheaded and burned for renouncing the doctrine of the Trinity, Switzerland, 1529.

Katherine Weigel, burned at the stake, Poland, 1539.

Stephen Dolet, burned at the stake for denying the Trinity, France, 1546.

George Van Paris, burned at the stake for Unitarian beliefs, England, 1551.

Michael Servetus, burned at the stake for his anti-Trinitarian beliefs, Switzerland, 1553.

Patrick Patingham, burned at the stake for his Arian views, 1555.

Giulo Guirlada, executed by drowning for his membership in a Unitarian society, Italy, 1562.

Giovanni Gentile, beheaded for Unitarian Beliefs, Switzerland, 1566.

Ferancesco Sega de Rovigo, executed by drowning for his membership in a Unitarian society, Italy, 1566.

Hermann van Flekyk, burned at the stake our denying the Trinity, Flanders (now Belgium), 1569.

Francis David, died after being imprisoned for his beliefs, Transylvania, 1579.

Matthew Hamont, burned at the stake for denying the divinity of Christ, England, 1579.

John Palaeogos of Chios, burned at the stake for teaching that Christ should not be worshiped, Italy, 1585.

John Tyscovicius, beheaded when he would not swear an oath to the Trinity, Poland, 1611.

Iwan Tyzkiewiczm, beheaded for refusing to renounce his Unitarian Faith, Poland, 1611.

Bartholomew Legate, burned at the stake for advocating Unitarian beliefs, England, 1612.

Edward Wightman, the last person in England burned at the stake for heresy, a Unitarian, 1612.

John Biddle, died from a disease contracted in prison after being jailed for heresy, England, 1662.

Henry Vane, beheaded for Universalist beliefs, England, 1662.

Stanislaus Lubieniecius, Jr., poisoned, 1675.

Thomas Aikenhead, hanged for blasphemy, Scotland, 1697.

Norbert Capek, creator of the Flower Celebration service, this Czech Unitarian minister was murdered by Nazis, 1942.

James Reeb, killed during the marches for civil rights in Selma, Alabama, 1965.

Viola Liuzzo, killed during the marches for civil rights in Selma, Alabama, 1965.

Toribio Quimada, a Universalist minister assassinated by people opposed to his work as a liberal religious leader, the Philippines, 1988.

Greg McKendry and Linda Kreager, Unitarian Universalists killed during a congregational event, 2008.

And the many jailed or exiled for their beliefs including Joseph Priestley, Abneer Kneeland, Richard Coppin, Michael Cellarius, John Webberly, Tobias Arcissevius, Jeremiah Felbinger, Faustus Socinus, Coelius Secundus Curio, Conrad Vorstius, Claude of Savoy, Laelius Socinus, George Blandrata, Matteo Gribaldo, Christopher Sandius, Paul Best, Thomas Emlyn, Harry Toulmin, John Matthews, Samuel Naeranus, Conrad Vorstius, George de Benneville, Nicholas Dumler, Jonas Schlichtingius, Sebastian Franck, Martin Cellarius, Hermann Montanus, Andrew Wissowatius, Jr., Bernardino Ochino, Christopher Crellius and John Assheton.

The First American Congress of Liberal Religious Societies

Administrator — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:51:27 +0000

As someone who was raised Unitaran Universalist but has both Jewish and Protestant ancestors I have always been interested in the intersections between Unitarianism (and now Unitarian Universalism) and various variants of Judaism. While researching something else entirely today I stumbled across a reference to The First American Congress of Liberal Religious Societies. The Congress met at Sinai Temple in Chicago and represented Unitarian, Universalist, Reform Jewish and Ethical Culture congregations. The proceedings of the meeting are available on-line and maybe sometime I’ll get around to reading them. This is also not the first time I’ve stumbled across interchanges between Reform Jews and Unitarians. While researching the curriculum I am writing as part of Tapestry of Faith last year I discovered a whole series of speeches by Rabbis given at the May Meetings of the AUA in the 1900s and 1910s. There’s a great essay waiting to be written by someone on the interchange between Unitarianism and Judaism out there…

Beyond the Burning River

Administrator — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:10:18 +0000

Preached at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, October 25, 2009

Over the next decades Greater Cleveland will survive and thrive or struggle and decline as a single entity. Cleveland Heights, Beachwood, Shaker Heights, Lakewood, Lorain, the city of Cleveland itself or any other community in the region will rise or fall with the region as a whole. Our future is, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., caught up in "an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny." This point was brought home to me this past summer when my family and I were in Paris.

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Four More Sermons On-line

Administrator — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:48:11 +0000

Four recent and not so recent sermons are now on-line:

Standing on the Side of Love (October 4, 2009)
The Bounty of the Earth (March 22, 2009)
In Search of Redemption (March 8, 2009)
Generation to Generation (March 1, 2009)

What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality

Administrator — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:52:43 +0000

Preached at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, October 11, 2009*

This should be a very brief sermon. The answer to today’s rhetorical question is actually delightfully short. To the query "What does the Bible say about homosexuality?" one should respond nothing. Unfortunately, the confusion that some people have over what the Bible says and the subsequent way that they use their confusion to try to oppress members of the GLBT community requires a longer response.

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A Rough Outline of Leviticus

Administrator — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:27:25 +0000

My project of reading the Bible is going a little slower than I hoped. At this point I had planned to be through Judges but today I just finished Leviticus. Outlining the books, even when I am just working writing my first impression outline rather than creating a refined one, seems to take quite a bit longer than I had anticipated. I suspect that this means I might not finish the project of reading the whole Bible by June. If that happens it will be no great tragedy. I will just continue to plug away until I complete both scriptures. With that said, my rough outline follows below.

Leviticus Outline

Clarification: This entire outline belongs as a section of the narrative of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness that begins at Exodus 15:22. Furthermore, the entire book of Leviticus belongs to the sub-section of the wandering that is dedicated to the Israelites time at Mt. Sinai that begins at Exodus 19:1.

1:1-7:38 The Lord speaks to Moses in the Tent of Meeting about various laws

– 1:1 The Lord calls Moses to the Tent of Meeting

– 1:2-3:17 rules for sacrifice

– 1:2-1:17 burnt offerings (no meat may be eaten)

– 2:1-16 cereal offerings

– 3:1-17 offering of well-being (meat may be eaten)

– 4:1-35 rules for offerings/sacrifices of atonement

— 4:3-12 in the case of a priest

— 4:13-21 in the case of the congregation

— 4:22-26 in the case of a chieftain

— 4:27-35 in the case of a "person among the populace"

– 4:27-31 sacrificing a female goat

– 4:32-4:35 sacrificing a sheep

– 5:1-26 ways someone can incur guilt and ways to atone for that guilt

— 5:1-13 acts of impurity

— 5:1-5 list of sins

— 5:6-13 sacrifices of purity

— 5:14-26 unwitting acts of trespass (note: each subsection contains both the sin and the atonement. Also, note that monetary payment may be accepted in lieu of animal sacrifice in some of these cases)

— 5:14-16 on the Lord’s property

— 5:17-19 on the commandments

— 5:20-26 on "his fellow"

– 6:1-7:36 further instructions on offerings

– 6:2-6 ritual of the burnt offering

– 6:7-11 ritual of the cereal ("grain") offering

– 6:12-16 ritual of the grain offering of the priest

– 6:17-6:23 ritual of the sin offering

– 7:1-7:7 ritual of the guilt offering

– 7:8-10 parallels between the guilt offering and burnt offering

– 7:11-34 ritual of the sacrifice of well being

– 7:35-36 summary statement for 6:1-7:36

– 7:37-38 summary statement for 1:1-7:36

– 8:1-10:20 Aaron and his are ordained and made priests

– 8:1-36 The ordination of Moses and his sons

– 9:1-24 Aaron and his sons conduct their first sacrifice (Note: in 9:23-24 "the Presence of the Lord appeared to all the people.")

– 10:1-20 The mistakes of Aaron and his sons

— 10:1-3 Nadab and Abihu transgress and are killed

— 10:4-8 A rule about ritual purity is interjected

— 10:9-11 A rule about sobriety is interjected

— 10:12-15 Further instructions about the meal offering

— 10:16-20 Aaron assures Moses that the sin offering will be handled properly in the future

– 11:1-15:33 The Lord speaks to Moses and Aaron about purity laws

– 11:1-47 dietary laws for animals

– 11:1-8 land animals

– 11:9-12 aquatic animals

– 11:13-19 birds

– 11:20-24 insects

– 11:25-40 how to relate to the carcass animals

– 11:41-45 miscellaneous things that swarm

– 11:46-47 summary statement

– 12:1-8 impurity after childbirth

— 13:1-14:57 the impurities of eruptions

— 13:1-47 the impurity of the skin (addressed to Moses and Aaron)

– 13:1-44 various kinds of skin diseases

– 13:45-46 the casting out of the unclean

– 13:48-59 the impurity of clothing

— 14:1-32 the ritual for cleansing a leper (clearly a continuation of 13:46 and addressed only to Moses)

— 14:33-14:53 the impurity and purification of plagues in homes (mold, etc.) (addressed to Moses and Aaron)

— 14:54-57 summary statement on the impurities of eruptions

– 15:1-33 impurity of bodily discharges (addressed to Moses and Aaron)

— 15:1-18 male discharges

– 15:1-15 abnormal discharges

– 15:16-18 semen

— 15:19-30 female discharges (menstruation)

– 15:31-33 summary statement for all impurities in 12-15 ("You shall put the Israelites on guard against their uncleanness, lest they die through their uncleanness by defiling My Tabernacle which is among them. (15:31))

– 16:1-34 institution of the day of atonement and instructions for the annual cleansing of the Tabernacle (addressed to Moses) (note: I am placing this in the general section about purity because it begins with issues around the purification of the Tabernacle)

— 16:1-5 only Aaron is to enter the Tabernacle, he should have with him a bull, a ram and two he-goats

— 16:6 the bull of the sin offering

— 16:7-10 the he-goats one for the Lord and one for Azazel (the goat for the Lord is to be sacrificed and the goat for Azazel is to be sent into the wilderness, my Jewish Study Bible says that Azazel literally means "fierce god")

— 16:11-17 cleansing the inner sanctum

— 16:18-19 cleansing the rest of the Tabernacle

— 16:20-22 the casting out of Azazel’s goat

— 16:23-25 Aaron’s cleansing after the purification rituals

— 16:26-28 the cleansing of others involved in the rituals

— 16:29-34 the institution of this annual ritual for all time

– 17:1-20:27 general purity necessary for the people of Israel to occupy Canaan (addressed to Moses) (this is what is commonly called the Holiness Code)

— 17:1-9 no sacrifices outside the Tent of Meeting

— 17:10-14 no partaking of blood

— 17:15-16 how to eat carrion

— 18:1-29 you shall not copy the practices of the people of Canaan because they were expelled from their land for their practices

– 18:5-18 prohibitions against incest

– 18:19-20 additional sexual prohibitions

– 18:21 prohibition against child sacrifice

– 18:22-23 additional sexual prohibitions

– 18:22 prohibition against male homogenital acts (specifically penetration)

– 18:24-29 summary statement for 18:1-29 (note: the central issue here is defiling the land by acting like the people of Canaan)

— 19:1-18 practices to be holy (You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy)

– 19:3 honor your mother and father and keep the sabbath

– 19:4 no idols

– 19:5-8 proper sacrifice

– 19:9-10 leave parts of the harvest for the poor

– 19:11-12 no stealing, lying or swearing falsely

– 19:13 no defrauding your fellow

– 19:14 no insulting the deaf or blind

– 19:15-16 deal fairly in justice

– 19:17-18 Love your fellow as yourself.

— 19:19-37 observe my laws (is this a subsection of 19:1-37 or independent? the problem with outlining is that one is imposing an order onto the text that may, in fact, not really be there)

– 19:19 no mixing of two kinds

– 19:20-22 no carnal relations with slave owned by a man and promised to another man

– 19:23-25 fruit trees must be left for five years before they a harvest is taken from them

– 19:26-28 do not eat anything with its blood, do not practice divination or soothsaying

– 19:29 do not make your daughter a harlot

– 19:30 keep the sabbath

– 19:31 do not turn to ghosts

– 19:32 show deference to the old

– 19:33-34 do not wrong the stranger (has the formulation "for you were strangers in the land of Egypt)

– 19:35-36 do not falsify measures

– 19:37 summary statement

– 20:1-27 prohibition of worship of Molech (addressed to Moses) (note: parallels to 18 and 19)

— 20:1-5 no child sacrifice

— 20:6 no turning to ghosts

— 20:7-8 sanctify yourself to be holy

— 20:9 do not insult your parents

— 20:10-21 prohibitions against incest, adultery, homogenital acts and bestiality

— 20:22-26 observe the laws to sanctify the land

— 20:27 repetition of 20:6

– 21:1-22:30 ritual purity necessary for the priesthood and rites of worship

– 21:1-23 purity of the priesthood (addressed to Moses)

— 21:1-4 no contact with the dead (other than dead relatives)

— 21:5-6 no shaving

— 21:7-8 no marrying harlots or widows

— 21:9 daughters of priests who commit harlotry will be put to death

— 21:10-12 priests shouldn’t leave the sanctuary once they have been anointed with oil, also the anointed priest should not go near any dead body

— 21:13-15 priest must marry a virgin from his own kin

— 21:16-23 priests may not have any "defect"

— 21:24 summary statement for 21:1-23

– 22:1-16 the purity necessary to handle offerings (addressed to Moses)

— 21:1-9 for making the sacrifice

— 21:10-16 for consuming the sacrifice

– 22:17-30 the purity of the offerings themselves (addressed to Moses)

— 22:17-28 before sacrifice

— 22:29-30 after sacrifice

– 22:31-33 summary statement 21:1-22:30

– 23:1-44 liturgical calendar (addressed to Moses)

— 23:3 institution of the sabbath

— 23:4-8 institution of passover

— 23:9-25 counting the omer and the sacrifices between passover and the day of atonement

— 23:26-32 institution of the day of atonement

— 23:33-36 festival of the booths

— 23:37-38 summary statement for 23:1-36

— 23:39-44 further instructions for the festival of the booths

– 24:1-9 instructions for regular worship by the priests in the Tabernacle

— 24:1-4 oil (daily)

— 24:5-9 bread (once a week on the sabbath)

– 24:10-23 the blasphemer

— 24:10-12 the act of blasphemy

— 24:12-16 judgment and punishment of the Lord

— 24:17-22 reminder of laws prohibiting murder of people who do not transgress the Lord’s laws

— 24:23 execution of the blasphemer

– 25:1-55 sabbatical and jubilee laws (given to Moses on Mt. Sinai)

— 25:1-7 the sabbatical year

— 25:8-55 the jubilee laws

– 25:8-12 institution of the jubilee

– 25:13-17 holdings are to be returned

– 25:18-22 the land will provide during the jubilee

– 25:23-24 the redemption of the land (parallel to 25:13-17)

– 25:25-28 sales of land are only in effect until the jubilee

– 25:29-34 exceptions are made for urban property

– 25:35-38 a prohibition against charging interest to relatives

– 25:39-46 only the descendants of non-Israelite slaves may be slaves in perpetuity

– 25:47-55 strangers (resident aliens) must redeem Israelite slaves at the jubilee

– 26:1-2 a summary statement but what it summarizes is unclear to me (does it draw 25:1-55 to a close?)

– 26:3-45 statements summarizing a promise and threat, if the laws are kept then the people and the land will flourish. if not, then not.

— 26:3-13 the promise

— 26:14-45 the threat

– 26:14-33 a series of punishments culminating in banishment from the land

– 26:34-38 you shall perish among the other nations

– 26:39-45 until at last some understand what they did wrong and are allowed to return

– 26:46 a summary statement for the law giving that began at Leviticus 25:1

– 27:1-33 concerning dedications (contributions) to the Lord (the Temple/Tabernacle?)

— 27:1-8 monetary dedications

— 27:9-13 animals

— 27:14-15 someone’s home

— 27:16-21 land that is held

— 27:22-25 land that has been purchased

— 27:26-27 firstling animals may not be consecrated because they belong to the Lord to begin with

— 27:28-29 nothing that belongs to the Lord may be sold

— 27:30-33 tithes also belong to Lord and cannot be redeemed

– 27:34 essentially a restatement of 26:46 which suggests to me that perhaps all of 27 comes from a different source than some of other portions of Leviticus

Five New Sermons On-line

Administrator — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:46:13 +0000

This week I put five of my sermons on-line. Over the next few months I should complete put up the backlog of sermons I acquired while our web-site was in transition. Read the new sermons on-line by clicking on the links below:
The God of Abraham (September 27, 2009)
A Joyful Welcoming Religious Community (September 20, 2009)
In Every Generation (April 19, 2009)
Trauma and Recovery (April 12, 2009)
An American Religion (April 5, 2009)

A Rough Outline of Exodus

Administrator — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:20:15 +0000

Here is my rough outline of Exodus. Once I am done with reading the whole of the Bible I might come back and revise these rough outlines. As I read along I learn that somethings that appear as stand alone episodes are really part of larger narratives.

Exodus Outline

  –1:1-7 Re-cap of end of Genesis including a list of Jacob’s sons
  –1:8-1:22 The oppression of Israel
  –1:15-1:22 Pharaoh orders that the midwives Shiprah and Puah kill the male babies of the Hebrews, they refuse (my Bible notes that in these passages all of the action in opposition to the Pharaoh and preserve the people of Israel is taken by women)
2:1-2:10 Birth and Childhood of Moses
2:11-2:14 Moses kills an Egyptian overseer
2:15 Moses flees to Midan
2:15-22 Moses meets his wife Zipporah by a well
2:23-25 The oppression against the Israelites increases and God takes notice (why is it that sometimes they are Hebrews and other times Israelites?)
3:1-4:17 God appears to Moses in a burning bush and charges him to go to Egypt
  –3:1-3:10 The appearance
  –3:11-4:17 Moses questions his charge ("Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt" (3:11) and "Please, O Lord, make someone else your agent"(4:14))?
4:17-26 Moses journeys to Egypt
  –4:24-26 God encounters Moses and seeks to kill him, Zipporah circumcises him to protect him (is this similar to Genesis 32:23-33 when Jacob wrestles with the divine being?)
4:27-31 The Lord speaks to Aaron and Aaron meets Moses. Together they speak to the elders of Israel
5:1-5 Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and ask that he release the Hebrews to allow them to make a sacrifice
5:6-22 Pharaoh responds by increasing the work of the Israelites
5:22-6:13 God speaks to Moses
  –5:22-23 Moses speaks to the Lord
  –5:24-6:11 God responds
  –6:12 Moses talks back
  –6:13 The Lord responds
6:14-6:25 Lineage of Moses and Aaron
6:26-7:7 Recap of Moses and Aaron’s relationship with the Lord
7:8-10:29 Moses and Aaron meet with Pharaoh again
  –7:8-13 Moses has a magical contest with Pharaoh’s magicians
  –7:14-10:29 the plagues
   –7:14-8:15 blood, frogs and lice effect everyone (note: the formulation each plague begins with Moses coming up to Pharaoh "as he is coming out to the water" and ends with him hardening his heart)
   –8:16-9:12 insects, pestilence and boils only effect the Egyptians (note: the formulation has changed slightly here)
   –9:13-10:29 third series of plagues, again they don’t effect the Israelites, hail, locusts, darkness
   –Note: After each plague Pharaoh gets a little closer to letting the Israelites go
11:1-11:10 The Lord predicts the 10th plague
12:1-28 Preparations for the exodus and the final plague are made by the Israelites (the origin of the passage and, here at least, the start of the Jewish year)
12:29-32 The 10th plague (slaying of the first born)
12:32-13:16 The Israelites depart Egypt and the Lord gives instructions for the passover ritual
13:17-15:21 The Sea of Reeds
  –13:17-22 The Israelites make their way to the Sea of Reeds (first appearance of the Lord as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire)
  –14:1-4 The Lord predicts that Pharaoh will pursue the Israelites
  –14:5-9 Pharaoh decides to give chase
  –14:10-14 The Israelites are frightened
  –14:15-31 Moses parts the sea, the Israelites cross and Pharaoh’s army drowns
  –15:1-21 Songs of Victory
   –15:1-18 Moses Song (note: The Jewish Study Bible suggests that this is one of the oldest texts in the Bible. It has parallels to Psalms 74:12-16, 89:10-14 and 93 and ancient myths about the storm god’s defeat of the sea god)
   –15:19 Recounting of the crossing of the sea
   –15:20-21 The Song of Miriam
15:22- The people begin to wander in the wilderness
  –15:22-17:16 Four trials
   –15:22-15:27 The water of Marah is bitter but the springs of Elim are sweet
   –16:1-36 the gift of manna (in the Wilderness of Sin)
   –17:1-7 the shortage of water at Rephidim
   –17:8-16 Amalek and his followers attack the Israelites (first mention of Joshua is at 7:13)
  –18:1-12 Moses is reunited with his family, Jethro recognizes the Lord as greater than all gods
  –18:13-27 Moses sits as "magistrate among the people" and at the advice of Jethro establishes the judgeship. Jethro returns to his own land.
  –19:1- the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai
   –19:1-2 Israel encamps in front of the mountain
   –19:3-6 God calls out to Moses and reiterates both ownership of the Earth and the covenant with Israel
   –19:7-13 Moses gathers the elders, reports his conversation with God and then talks further with God
   –19:9-13 God says that God will appear before the people
   –19:14-15 Moses warns the people to be pure
   –19:16-23:33 God appears to the people
   –19:20-24 God calls Moses to the mountain
   –19:25-20:18 Moses shares with the people God’s words, includes the commandments
   –20:19-23:33 Moses returns to the mountain to speak with God again
   –20:19-23:19 God gives further laws
   –20:19-23 Worship
   –21:1-11 Slavery
   –21:12-32 Crimes against persons (note 21:22-25 includes the famous eye for an eye, here it seems to have a very specific context rather than a general one)
   –21:33-22:16 Crimes against property (note: I am not sure where 22:15-16 fits since it is about seducing young women who while their father’s property under the system of the Israelites are also persons)
   –22:17-23:9 ethical laws
   –23:10-19 further laws pertaining to worship and sacrifice
   –23:19 the verse on "You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk" appears to be given in the context sacrificial purity
   –23:20-33 God tells the people that God is "sending an angel before you to guard you" and then promises them dominion over the promised land
   –24:1-11 God calls Moses and seventy elders to the mountain. God show’s God’s self to the elders (24:9-11)
   –24:11-31:18 God confers with Moses on the mountain for forty days and forty nights and gives Moses instructions how to create the Tabernacle, how to worship God and how priests should be ordained
   –24:12 gift of stone tablets
   –25:1-7 gifts for God
   –25:8-27:19 Construction of the Tabernacle
   –25:10-17 ark
   –25:18-30 table
   –25:31-40 lampstands
   –26:1-37 Tabernacle
   –27:1-8 altar for sacrifices? (the Jewish study Bible says that this altar was for sacrifices, the text only implies this)
   –27:9-19 courtyard
   –27:20-28:42 institution of Aaron and his sons as priests
   –28:2-43 priestly vestments ("Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of decision over his heart, when enters the sanctuary, for remembrance before the Lord at all times." 28:29)
   –29:1-27 consecration of priests
   –29:28-42 the instructions for daily offerings
   –29:42-46 God promises to meet with the Israelites in the Tabernacle/Tent of Meeting
   –30:1-10 Altar for burning incense
   –30:1-5 construction of the altar
   –30:6-10 its use
   –30:11-16 The Census to support the priesthood
   –30:17-38 Further Instructions for the Tabernacle and Worship
   –30:17-21 The laver and washing
   –30:21-33 The anointing oil
   –30:34-38 Sacred Incense
   –31:1-11 Who the builders shall be
   –31:12-18 Reminder of the importance of the sabbath and the pact
   –32:1-33:6 The Golden Calf Episode
   –32:1-6 Aaron makes the people a Golden Calf
   –32:7-14 The Lord sends Moses down the mountain because people are worshiping the Golden Calf
   –32:9-14 Moses convinces God not to kill the Israelites
   –32:15-18 Moses comes down the mountain
   –32:19-20 Moses discovers the Israelites worshipping the calf, destroys the tablets of the covenant and the calf
   –32:21-24 Moses confronts Aaron
   –32:25-29 Moses rallies the Levites to slay the calf worshippers
   –32:30-33:6 Moses pronounces the people guilty and returns to the Lord to confer
   –32:45 The Lord sends a plague to the people
   –33:1-6 The Lord commands Moses to set out and promises that an angel will go with the Israelites
   –33:7-23 Moses moves the Tent of Meeting outside the camp and the Lord offers to make His presence known to Moses (How does this relate to 24:1-11)
   –34:1-28 Moses returns to the mountain for forty days and nights and sees the Lord’s presence, Moses also makes a second set of tablets, the Lord renews the covenant
   –34:12-16 Make no covenants with the inhabitants of "the land against which you are advancing"
   –34:17-26 Liturgical Calendar
   –34:29- Moses returns to the community of Israelites and offers further instructions on worship
   –34:33-34:35 Moses wears a veil whenever he is not speaking with God
   –35:1-3 reminder about the Sabbath
   –35:4-39:43 construction of the Tabernacle (how does this relate to the Tent of Meeting that already exists?)
   –35:4-29 gifts to support the construction of the Tabernacle
   –35:30-36:1 the appointment of Bezalel and Oholiab as master builders
   –36:2-7 the overabundance of gifts
   –36:8-36:38 construction of the outside
   –37:1-38:9 construction of the inside
   –37:1-9 ark
   –37:9-37:16 table
   –37:17-24 lampstand
   –37:25-29 incense holder
   –38:1-9 altar and laver
   –38:10-20 construction of the enclosure
   –38:21-38:31 tally of materials used to make the Tabernacle
   –39:1-31 making of the priestly vestments
   –39:2-7 ephod
   –39:6-21 breastplate
   –39:22-26 robe for the ephod
   –39:27-29 tunics
   –39:30-31 frontlet
   (note: after each item appears the formulation "as the Lord had commanded Moses)
   –39:32-43 The Tabernacle is brought to Moses, he approves
   –40:1-16 The Lord speaks to Moses, the Tabernacle is consecrated
   –40:17-33 The Tabernacle is set-up (note: again the formulation "as the Lord had commanded Moses" appears)–40:33-38 "the Presence of the Lord" enters and fills the Tabernacle