Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

18 ¶ And the LORD appeared unto him among the terebinth trees of Mamre; and he was sitting in the door of his tent in the heat of the day;

² and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, three men stood by him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground

³ and said, My Lord, if now I have found grace in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy slave.

⁴ Let a little water, I pray you, be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under a tree;

⁵ and I will bring a morsel of bread and comfort your hearts; after that ye shall pass on because for this ye are come to your slave. And they said, So do as thou hast said.

⁶ And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make bread baked under the ashes.

⁷ And Abraham ran unto the herd and brought a calf tender and good and gave it unto a young man; and he hastened to dress it.

⁸ And he took butter and milk and the calf which he had dressed and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

⁹ ¶ And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Here, in the tent.

¹⁰ Then he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, behold, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

A Psalm of David.

¹ ¶ LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in the mountain of thy holiness?

² He that walks in integrity and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.

³ He that does not backbite with his tongue nor does evil to his neighbour nor takes up a reproach against his neighbour.

⁴ In whose eyes the vile person is not esteemed; but he honours those that fear the LORD. He that swears to his own hurt and does not change.

⁵ He that does not put out his money to usury nor takes a bribe against the innocent. He that does these things shall never be moved.

¹⁵ who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature;

¹⁶ for by him were all things created, that are in the heavens and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones or dominions or principalities or powers: all things were created by him and in him;

¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the congregation, {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.

¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell

²⁰ and by him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, {Gr. stauro – stake} whether they are the things in the earth or the things in the heavens.

²¹ And you, that were in another time alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled you

²² in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight

²³ if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard and which is preached to every creature which is under heaven, of which I Paul am made a minister,

²⁴ who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fulfill in my flesh that which is lacking of the tribulations of the Christ for his body’s sake, which is the congregation, {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones}

²⁵ of which I am made a minister by the dispensation of God which is given to me in you, to fulfil the word of God,

²⁶ even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints,

²⁷ to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery in the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,

²⁸ whom we preach, warning every man and teaching in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus,

³⁸ ¶ Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard his word.

⁴⁰ But Martha was cumbered about in much serving and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.

⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things;

⁴² but only one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.