Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my light, and he saves me.
Why should I fear anyone?
The Lord is my place of safety.
Why should I be afraid?
2 My enemies are evil.
They will trip and fall
when they attack me
and try to swallow me up.
3 Even if an army attacks me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if war breaks out against me,
I will still trust in God.
4 I’m asking the Lord for only one thing.
Here is what I want.
I want to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life.
I want to look at the beauty of the Lord.
I want to worship him in his temple.
5 When I’m in trouble,
he will keep me safe in his house.
He will hide me in the safety of his holy tent.
He will put me on a rock that is very high.
6 Then I will win the battle
over my enemies who are all around me.
At his holy tent I will offer my sacrifice with shouts of joy.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
7 Lord, hear my voice when I call out to you.
Treat me with kindness and answer me.
8 My heart says, “Seek him!”
Lord, I will seek you.
9 Don’t turn your face away from me.
Don’t turn me away because you are angry.
You have helped me.
God my Savior, don’t say no to me.
Don’t desert me.
10 My father and mother may desert me,
but the Lord will accept me.
11 Lord, teach me your ways.
Lead me along a straight path.
There are many people who treat me badly.
12 My enemies want to harm me. So don’t turn me over to them.
Witnesses who tell lies are rising up against me.
They say all sorts of evil things about me.
13 Here is something I am still sure of.
I will see the Lord’s goodness
while I’m still alive.
14 Wait for the Lord.
Be strong and don’t lose hope.
Wait for the Lord.
Abram and Lot Separate
13 Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev Desert. He took his wife and everything he had. Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very rich. He had a lot of livestock and silver and gold.
3 Abram left the Negev Desert. He went from place to place until he came to Bethel. Then he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier. 4 There he called on the name of the Lord at the altar he had built.
5 Lot was moving around with Abram. Lot also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land didn’t have enough food for both Abram and Lot. They had large herds and many servants, so they weren’t able to stay together. 7 The people who took care of Abram’s herds and those who took care of Lot’s herds began to argue. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.
14 The Lord spoke to Abram after Lot had left him. He said, “Look around from where you are. Look north and south, east and west. 15 I will give you all the land you see. I will give it forever to you and your family who comes after you. 16 I will make them like the dust of the earth. Can dust be counted? If it can, then your family can be counted. 17 Go! Walk through the land. See how long and wide it is. I am giving it to you.”
18 So Abram went to live near the large trees of Mamre at Hebron. There he pitched his tents and built an altar to honor the Lord.
2 Watch out for those dogs. They are people who do evil things. When they circumcise, it is nothing more than a useless cutting of the body. 3 But we have been truly circumcised. We serve God by the power of his Spirit. We boast about what Christ Jesus has done. We don’t put our trust in who we are or what we can do. 4 I have many reasons to trust in who I am and what I have done. Someone else may think they have reasons to trust in these things. But I have even more.
5 I was circumcised on the eighth day. I am part of the people of Israel. I am from the tribe of Benjamin. I am a pure Hebrew. As far as the law is concerned, I am a Pharisee. 6 As far as being committed is concerned, I opposed and attacked the church. As far as keeping the law is concerned, I kept it perfectly.
7 I thought things like that were really something great. But now I consider them to be nothing because of Christ. 8 Even more, I consider everything to be nothing compared to knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. To know him is worth much more than anything else. Because of him I have lost everything. But I consider all of it to be garbage so I can know Christ better. 9 I want to be joined to him. Being right with God does not come from my obeying the law. It comes because I believe in Christ. It comes from God because of faith. 10 I want to know Christ better. Yes, I want to know the power that raised him from the dead. I want to join him in his sufferings. I want to become like him by sharing in his death. 11 Then by God’s grace I will rise from the dead.
12 I have not yet received all these things. I have not yet reached my goal. Christ Jesus took hold of me so that I could reach that goal. So I keep pushing myself forward to reach it.
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