The Steadfast Love of the Lord

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

¹⁷ After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the ^(A)King's Valley). ¹⁸ And ^(B)Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was ^(C)priest of ^(D)God Most High.) ¹⁹ And he blessed him and said,

And Abram gave him ^(G)a tenth of everything. ²¹ And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ^(H)“I have lifted my hand^[b] to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that ^(I)I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let ^(J)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

Paul on Malta

28 After we were brought safely through, ^(A)we then learned that ^(B)the island was called Malta. ^2 (C)The native people^[a] showed us unusual ^(D)kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. ³ When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. ⁴ When ^(E)the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ^(F)“No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, ^(G)Justice^[b] has not allowed him to live.” ⁵ He, however, ^(H)shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, ^(I)they changed their minds and ^(J)said that he was a god.

⁷ Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. ⁸ It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and ^(K)prayed, and ^(L)putting his hands on him, healed him. ⁹ And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. ¹⁰ They also honored us greatly,^[c] and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.