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Trumpets and trombones and horns: it's festival day, a feast to God!
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A day decreed by God, solemnly ordered by the God of Jacob.
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He commanded Joseph to keep this day so we'd never forget what he did in Egypt. I hear this most gentle whisper from One I never guessed would speak to me:
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"I took the world off your shoulders, freed you from a life of hard labor.
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You called to me in your pain; I got you out of a bad place. I answered you from where the thunder hides, I proved you at Meribah Fountain.
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"Listen, dear ones - get this straight; O Israel, don't take this lightly.
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Don't take up with strange gods, don't worship the latest in gods.
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I'm God, your God, the very God who rescued you from doom in Egypt, Then fed you all you could eat, filled your hungry stomachs.
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"But my people didn't listen, Israel paid no attention;
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So I let go of the reins and told them, 'Run! Do it your own way!'
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"Oh, dear people, will you listen to me now? Israel, will you follow my map?