Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A psalm by David.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 Abram left Egypt with his wife and everything he had and went to the Negev. Lot was with him. ² Abram was very rich because he had livestock, silver, and gold. ³ He traveled from place to place. He went from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the area between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been originally, ⁴ where he had first made an altar. There Abram worshiped the Lord.

⁵ Lot, who had been traveling with Abram, also had his own sheep, cattle, and tents. ⁶ There wasn’t enough pastureland for both of them. They had so many possessions that they were unable to remain together. ⁷ Quarrels broke out between Abram’s herders and Lot’s herders. (Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in that area.)

⁸ Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have any more quarrels between us or between our herders. After all, we’re relatives. ⁹ Isn’t all this land yours also? Let’s separate. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right, and if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” ¹⁰ Then Lot looked in the direction of Zoar as far as he could see. He saw that the whole Jordan Plain was well-watered like the Lord’s garden or like Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

¹¹ Lot chose the whole Jordan Plain for himself. He moved toward the east. They each went their own way. ¹² Abram lived in Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain, moving his tents as far as Sodom. ¹³ (The people who lived in Sodom were very wicked. They committed terrible sins against the Lord.)

The Lord’s Third Promise to Abram

¹⁴ After Lot left, the Lord said to Abram, “Look north, south, east, and west of where you are. ¹⁵ I will give all the land you see to you and to your descendants for an indefinite period of time. ¹⁶ I will also give you as many descendants as the dust of the earth. If anyone could count the dust of the earth, then he could also count your descendants. ¹⁷ Go! Walk back and forth across the entire land because I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oak trees belonging to Mamre at Hebron. There he built an altar for the Lord.

Paul Prays That God Would Strengthen Christians

¹⁴ This is the reason I kneel in the presence of the Father ¹⁵ from whom all the family in heaven and on earth receives its name. ¹⁶ I’m asking God to give you a gift from the wealth of his glory. I pray that he would give you inner strength and power through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will live in you through faith. I also pray that love may be the ground into which you sink your roots and on which you have your foundation. ¹⁸ This way, with all of God’s people you will be able to understand how wide, long, high, and deep his love is. ¹⁹ You will know Christ’s love, which goes far beyond any knowledge. I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God.

²⁰ Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. ²¹ Glory belongs to God in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time and eternity! Amen.