Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God’s Covenant with Abram(A)
15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram (B)in a vision, saying, (C)“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your (D)shield, [a]your exceedingly (E)great reward.”
2 (F)But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, (G)seeing I [b]go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed (H)one[c] born in my house is my heir!”
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who (I)will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and (J)count the (K)stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, (L)“So shall your (M)descendants be.”
6 And he (N)believed in the Lord, and He (O)accounted it to him for righteousness.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has (A)chosen as His own inheritance.
13 (B)The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
14 From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
15 He fashions their hearts individually;
(C)He [a]considers all their works.
16 (D)No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
17 (E)A horse is a [b]vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
18 (F)Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And (G)to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.
By Faith We Understand
11 Now faith is the [a]substance of things hoped for, the [b]evidence (A)of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
3 By faith we understand that (B)the [c]worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Faithful Abraham(A)
8 By faith (B)Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, (C)dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, (D)the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for (E)the city which has foundations, (F)whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith (G)Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and (H)she[a] bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him (I)faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as (J)dead, were born as many as the (K)stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
The Heavenly Hope
13 These all died in faith, (L)not having received the (M)promises, but (N)having seen them afar off [b]were assured of them, embraced them and (O)confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things (P)declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind (Q)that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed (R)to be called their God, for He has (S)prepared a city for them.
32 “Do not fear, little flock, for (A)it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 (B)Sell what you have and give (C)alms; (D)provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant(E)
35 (F)“Let your waist be girded and (G)your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 (H)Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 (I)But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would [a]have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 (J)Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.