Book of Common Prayer

^(A)Longing for God^[a]

God the Ruler of the World^[a]

The Love of God^[a]

² Abram was a very rich man, with sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as silver and gold. ³ Then he left there and moved from place to place, going toward Bethel. He reached the place between Bethel and Ai where he had camped before ⁴ and had built an altar. There he worshiped the Lord.

⁵ Lot also had sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as his own family and servants. ⁶ And so there was not enough pasture land for the two of them to stay together, because they had too many animals. ⁷ So quarrels broke out between the men who took care of Abram's animals and those who took care of Lot's animals. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were still living in the land.)

⁸ Then Abram said to Lot, “We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn't be quarreling. ⁹ So let's separate. Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way, and I'll go the other.”

^10 (A)Lot looked around and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water, like the Garden of the Lord^[a] or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself and moved away toward the east. That is how the two men parted. ¹² Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled among the cities in the valley and camped near Sodom, ¹³ whose people were wicked and sinned against the Lord.

Abram Moves to Hebron

¹⁴ After Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram, “From where you are, look carefully in all directions. ^15 (B)I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever. ¹⁶ I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth! ¹⁷ Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you.” ¹⁸ So Abram moved his camp and settled near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Paul and the Other Apostles

2 ^(A)Fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. ² I went because God revealed to me that I should go. In a private meeting with the leaders I explained the gospel message that I preach to the Gentiles. I did not want my work in the past or in the present to be a failure. ³ My companion Titus, even though he is Greek, was not forced to be circumcised, ⁴ although some wanted it done. Pretending to be believers, these men slipped into our group as spies, in order to find out about the freedom we have through our union with Christ Jesus. They wanted to make slaves of us, ⁵ but in order to keep the truth of the gospel safe for you, we did not give in to them for a minute.

^6 (B)But those who seemed to be the leaders—I say this because it makes no difference to me what they were; God does not judge by outward appearances—those leaders, I say, made no new suggestions to me. ⁷ On the contrary, they saw that God had given me the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the task of preaching the gospel to the Jews. ⁸ For by God's power I was made an apostle to the Gentiles, just as Peter was made an apostle to the Jews. ⁹ James, Peter, and John, who seemed to be the leaders, recognized that God had given me this special task; so they shook hands with Barnabas and me, as a sign that we were all partners. We agreed that Barnabas and I would work among the Gentiles and they among the Jews. ¹⁰ All they asked was that we should remember the needy in their group, which is the very thing I have^[a] been eager to do.

Jesus Heals a Deaf-Mute

³¹ Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre and went on through Sidon to Lake Galilee, going by way of the territory of the Ten Towns. ³² Some people brought him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged Jesus to place his hands on him. ³³ So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue. ³⁴ Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan, and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up!”

³⁵ At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble. ³⁶ Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they told it. ³⁷ And all who heard were completely amazed. “How well he does everything!” they exclaimed. “He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!”