John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

3 In those days ^(B)John the Baptist came preaching ^(C)in the wilderness of Judea, ² and saying, “Repent, for ^(D)the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” ³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

⁴ Now ^(G)John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(H)locusts and ^(I)wild honey. ^5 (J)Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him ^6 (K)and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(L)“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(M)the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ⁹ and do not think to say to yourselves, ^(N)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. ^(O)Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ^11 (P)I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. ^(Q)He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit ^[a]and fire. ^12 (R)His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will ^(S)burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

A Lame Man Healed

3 Now Peter and John went up together ^(A)to the temple at the hour of prayer, ^(B)the ninth hour. ² And ^(C)a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, ^(D)to ^[a]ask alms from those who entered the temple; ³ who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. ⁴ And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” ⁵ So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: ^(E)In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” ⁷ And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. ⁸ So he, ^(F)leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. ^9 (G)And all the people saw him walking and praising God. ¹⁰ Then they knew that it was he who ^(H)sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Preaching in Solomon’s Portico

¹¹ Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch ^(I)which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. ¹² So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ^13 (J)The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, ^(K)glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you ^(L)delivered up and ^(M)denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. ¹⁴ But you denied ^(N)the Holy One ^(O)and the Just, and ^(P)asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and killed the ^[b]Prince of life, ^(Q)whom God raised from the dead, ^(R)of which we are witnesses. ^16 (S)And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

¹⁷ “Yet now, brethren, I know that ^(T)you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸ But ^(U)those things which God foretold ^(V)by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. ^19 (W)Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰ and that He may send ^[c]Jesus Christ, who was ^[d]preached to you before, ^21 (X)whom heaven must receive until the times of ^(Y)restoration of all things, ^(Z)which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since ^[e]the world began. ²² For Moses truly said to the fathers, ^(AA)‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. ²³ And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ Yes, and ^(AB)all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also ^[f]foretold these days. ^25 (AC)You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ^(AD)‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ To you ^(AE)first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, ^(AF)in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

A Prayer for Guidance

To the Chief Musician. With ^[a]flutes. A Psalm of David.

Promises to Abram^(A)

12 Now the ^(B)Lord had said to Abram:

⁴ So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and ^(J)the ^[a]people whom they had acquired ^(K)in Haran, and they ^(L)departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram ^(M)passed through the land to the place of Shechem, ^(N)as far as ^[b]the terebinth tree of Moreh. ^(O)And the Canaanites were then in the land.

^7 (P)Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ^(Q)“To your ^[c]descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an ^(R)altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and ^(S)called on the name of the Lord. ⁹ So Abram journeyed, ^(T)going on still toward the ^[d]South.

Abram in Egypt

¹⁰ Now there was ^(U)a famine in the land, and Abram ^(V)went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was ^(W)severe in the land. ¹¹ And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are ^(X)a woman of beautiful countenance. ¹² Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they ^(Y)will kill me, but they will let you live. ^13 (Z)Please say you are my ^(AA)sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that ^[e]I may live because of you.”

¹⁴ So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. ¹⁵ The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ He ^(AB)treated Abram well for her sake. He ^(AC)had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(AD)plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ And Pharaoh called Abram and said, ^(AE)“What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” ^20 (AF)So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

Abram Inherits Canaan

13 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and ^(AG)Lot with him, ^(AH)to the ^[f]South. ^2 (AI)Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ And he went on his journey ^(AJ)from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the ^(AK)place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram ^(AL)called on the name of the Lord.

⁵ Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ Now ^(AM)the land was not able to ^[g]support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ⁷ And there was ^(AN)strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. ^(AO)The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

⁸ So Abram said to Lot, ^(AP)“Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. ^9 (AQ)Is not the whole land before you? Please ^(AR)separate from me. ^(AS)If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

¹⁰ And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all ^(AT)the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord ^(AU)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) ^(AV)like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward ^(AW)Zoar. ¹¹ Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. ¹² Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot ^(AX)dwelt in the cities of the plain and ^(AY)pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. ¹³ But the men of Sodom ^(AZ)were exceedingly wicked and ^(BA)sinful against the Lord.

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot ^(BB)had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—^(BC)northward, southward, eastward, and westward; ¹⁵ for all the land which you see ^(BD)I give to you and ^(BE)your ^[h]descendants forever. ¹⁶ And ^(BF)I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. ¹⁷ Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

^18 (BG)Then Abram moved his tent, and went and ^(BH)dwelt by ^[i]the terebinth trees of Mamre, ^(BI)which are in Hebron, and built an ^(BJ)altar there to the Lord.

Lot’s Captivity and Rescue

14 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king ^(BK)of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^(BL)Elam, and Tidal king of ^[j]nations, ² that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^(BM)Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, ^(BN)Zoar). ³ All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim ^(BO)(that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴ Twelve years ^(BP)they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked ^(BQ)the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, ^(BR)the Zuzim in Ham, ^(BS)the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, ^6 (BT)and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. ⁷ Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt ^(BU)in Hazezon Tamar.

⁸ And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of ^[k]nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of ^(BV)asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled ^(BW)to the mountains. ¹¹ Then they took ^(BX)all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. ¹² They also took Lot, Abram’s ^(BY)brother’s son ^(BZ)who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³ Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the ^(CA)Hebrew, for ^(CB)he dwelt by ^[l]the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; ^(CC)and they were allies with Abram. ¹⁴ Now ^(CD)when Abram heard that ^(CE)his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were ^(CF)born in his own house, and went in pursuit ^(CG)as far as Dan. ¹⁵ He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants ^(CH)attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is ^[m]north of Damascus. ¹⁶ So he ^(CI)brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.

¹⁷ And the king of Sodom ^(CJ)went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the ^(CK)King’s Valley), ^(CL)after his return from the ^[n]defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.

Abram and Melchizedek^(CM)

¹⁸ Then ^(CN)Melchizedek king of Salem brought out ^(CO)bread and wine; he was ^(CP)the priest of ^(CQ)God Most High. ¹⁹ And he blessed him and said:

And he ^(CU)gave him ^[o]a tithe of all.

²¹ Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the ^[p]persons, and take the goods for yourself.”

²² But Abram ^(CV)said to the king of Sodom, “I ^(CW)have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, ^(CX)the Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that ^(CY)I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— ²⁴ except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”