Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 15[a]
The Righteous Israelite
1 (A)A psalm of David.
I
Lord, who may abide in your tent?[b]
Who may dwell on your holy mountain?
II
2 Whoever walks without blame,(B)
doing what is right,
speaking truth from the heart;
3 Who does not slander with his tongue,
does no harm to a friend,
never defames a neighbor;
4 Who disdains the wicked,
but honors those who fear the Lord;
Who keeps an oath despite the cost,
5 lends no money at interest,[c]
accepts no bribe against the innocent.(C)
III
Whoever acts like this
shall never be shaken.
Chapter 13
Abram and Lot Part. 1 From Egypt Abram went up to the Negeb with his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot went with him.(A) 2 [a]Now Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.(B) 3 From the Negeb he traveled by stages toward Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly stood, 4 the site where he had first built the altar; and there Abram invoked the Lord by name.(C)
5 Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support them if they stayed together; their possessions were so great that they could not live together. 7 There were quarrels between the herders of Abram’s livestock and the herders of Lot’s livestock. At this time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot: “Let there be no strife between you and me, or between your herders and my herders, for we are kindred. 9 Is not the whole land available? Please separate from me. If you prefer the left, I will go to the right; if you prefer the right, I will go to the left.” 10 Lot looked about and saw how abundantly watered the whole Jordan Plain was as far as Zoar, like the Lord’s own garden, or like Egypt. This was before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. 11 Lot, therefore, chose for himself the whole Jordan Plain and set out eastward. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the Plain, pitching his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the inhabitants of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.(D)
14 After Lot had parted from him, the Lord said to Abram: Look about you, and from where you are, gaze to the north and south, east and west;(E) 15 all the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.(F) 16 I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth; if anyone could count the dust of the earth, your descendants too might be counted.(G) 17 Get up and walk through the land, across its length and breadth, for I give it to you. 18 Abram moved his tents and went on to settle near the oak of Mamre, which is at Hebron. There he built an altar to the Lord.(H)
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,(A) 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love,(B) 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth,(C) 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.(D)
20 Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us,(E) 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.