Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 1 The Lord is Abram’s defense and reward. 6 He is justified by faith. 13 The servitude and deliverance out of Egypt is declared. 18 The land of Canaan is promised the fourth time.
1 After these things, the [a]word of the Lord came unto Abram in a (A)vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy buckler, and thine exceeding (B)great reward.
2 And Abram said, [b]O Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of mine house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 Again Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: wherefore lo, a servant of mine house shall be mine heir.
4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir, but one that shall come out of thine own bowels, he shall be thine heir.
5 Moreover he brought him forth and said, (C)Look up now unto heaven, and tell the stars if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And Abram (D)believed the Lord, and he counted that to him for righteousness.
12 Blessed is that nation, whose [a]God is the Lord: even the people that he hath chosen for his inheritance.
13 The Lord [b]looketh down from heaven, and beholdeth all the children of men.
14 From the habitation of his dwelling, he beholdeth all them that dwell in the earth.
15 He [c]fashioneth their hearts every one, and understandeth all their works.
16 The [d]King is not saved by the multitude of an host, neither is the mighty man delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a vain help, and shall not deliver any by his great strength.
18 Behold, [e]the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, and upon them that trust in his mercy,
19 To deliver their souls from death, and to preserve them in famine.
20 [f]Our soul waiteth for the Lord: for he is our help and our shield.
21 Surely our heart shall rejoice in him, because we trusted in his holy Name.
22 Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we trusted in thee.
11 1 He declareth in the whole Chapter, that the Fathers, which from the beginning of the world were approved of God, attained salvation no other way than by faith, that the Jews may know that by the same only, they are knit unto the Fathers in an holy union.
1 Now [a]faith is the grounds of things which are hoped for, and the evidence of things which are not seen.
2 [b]For by it our [c]elders were well reported of.
3 (A)[d]Through faith we understand that the world was ordained by the word of God, so that the things which we [e]see, are not made of things which did appear.
8 [a]By faith (A)Abraham, when he was called, obeyed God, to go out into a place, which he should afterward receive for inheritance, and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
9 By faith he abode in the land of promise, as in a strange country, as one that dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he looked for a city having a [b]foundation, whose builder and maker is God.
11 Through faith (B)Sarah also received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful which had promised.
12 And therefore sprang thereof one, even of one which was [c]dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand of the sea shore which is innumerable.
13 All these died in [d]faith, and received not the [e]promises, but saw them afar off, and believed them, and [f]received them thankfully, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things, declare plainly, that they seek a country.
15 And if they had been mindful of that country, from whence they came out, they had leisure to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better, that is an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
32 [a]Fear not, little flock: for it is your Father’s pleasure to give you the kingdom.
33 ¶ (A)[b]Sell that ye have, and give [c]alms: make you bags which wax not old: a treasure that can never fail in heaven, where no thief cometh neither moth corrupteth.
34 For where your treasure is, there will your hearts be also.
35 ¶ (B)[d]Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning,
36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
37 Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find waking: verily I say unto you, he will gird himself about, and make them to sit down at table, and will come forth, and serve them.
38 And if he come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and shall find them so, blessed are those servants.
39 (C)Now understand this, that if the good man of the house had known at what hour the thief would have come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be dug through.
40 [e]Be ye also prepared therefore: for the Son of man will come at an hour when ye think not.
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