Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 15[a]
A psalm of David.
15 Lord, who may be a guest in your home?[b]
Who may live on your holy hill?[c]
2 Whoever lives a blameless life,[d]
does what is right,
and speaks honestly.[e]
3 He[f] does not slander,[g]
or do harm to others,[h]
or insult his neighbor.[i]
4 He despises a reprobate,[j]
but honors the Lord’s loyal followers.[k]
He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise.[l]
5 He does not charge interest when he lends his money.[m]
He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent.[n]
The one who lives like this[o] will never be shaken.
Abram’s Solution to the Strife
13 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev.[a] He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot.[b] 2 (Now Abram was very wealthy[c] in livestock, silver, and gold.)[d]
3 And he journeyed from place to place[e] from the Negev as far as Bethel. He returned[f] to the place where he had pitched his tent[g] at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 4 This was the place where he had first built the altar,[h] and there Abram worshiped the Lord.[i]
5 Now Lot, who was traveling[j] with Abram, also had[k] flocks, herds, and tents. 6 But the land could[l] not support them while they were living side by side.[m] Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live[n] alongside one another. 7 So there were quarrels[o] between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen.[p] (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.)[q]
8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives.[r] 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go[s] to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
10 Lot looked up and saw[t] the whole region[u] of the Jordan. He noticed[v] that all of it was well watered (this was before the Lord obliterated[w] Sodom and Gomorrah)[x] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt,[y] all the way to Zoar. 11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled[z] toward the east.
So the relatives separated from each other.[aa] 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain[ab] and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13 (Now[ac] the people[ad] of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.)[ae]
14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram,[af] “Look[ag] from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 15 I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants[ah] forever. 16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted.[ai] 17 Get up and[aj] walk[ak] throughout the land,[al] for I will give it to you.”
18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live[am] by the oaks[an] of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.
Prayer for Strengthened Love
14 For this reason[a] I kneel[b] before the Father,[c] 15 from[d] whom every family[e] in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that[f] according to the wealth of his glory he will grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17 that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,[g] 19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you will be filled up to[h] all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us[i] is able to do far beyond[j] all that we ask or think, 21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
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