Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History

Abram Inherits Canaan

13 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and ^(A)Lot with him, ^(B)to the ^[a]South. ^2 (C)Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ And he went on his journey ^(D)from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the ^(E)place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram ^(F)called on the name of the Lord.

⁵ Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ Now ^(G)the land was not able to ^[b]support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ⁷ And there was ^(H)strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. ^(I)The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

⁸ So Abram said to Lot, ^(J)“Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. ^9 (K)Is not the whole land before you? Please ^(L)separate from me. ^(M)If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

¹⁰ And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all ^(N)the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord ^(O)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) ^(P)like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward ^(Q)Zoar. ¹¹ Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. ¹² Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot ^(R)dwelt in the cities of the plain and ^(S)pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. ¹³ But the men of Sodom ^(T)were exceedingly wicked and ^(U)sinful against the Lord.

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot ^(V)had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—^(W)northward, southward, eastward, and westward; ¹⁵ for all the land which you see ^(X)I give to you and ^(Y)your ^[c]descendants forever. ¹⁶ And ^(Z)I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. ¹⁷ Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

^18 (AA)Then Abram moved his tent, and went and ^(AB)dwelt by ^[d]the terebinth trees of Mamre, ^(AC)which are in Hebron, and built an ^(AD)altar there to the Lord.

^17 (A)These are wells without water, ^[a]clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness ^[b]forever.

Deceptions of False Teachers

¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who ^[c]have actually escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of ^[d]corruption; ^(B)for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into ^[e]bondage. ²⁰ For if, after they ^(C)have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are ^(D)again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. ²¹ For ^(E)it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ^(F)“A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”