Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Promises to Abram^(A)

12 Now the ^(B)Lord had said to Abram:

⁴ So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and ^(J)the ^[a]people whom they had acquired ^(K)in Haran, and they ^(L)departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram ^(M)passed through the land to the place of Shechem, ^(N)as far as ^[b]the terebinth tree of Moreh. ^(O)And the Canaanites were then in the land.

^7 (P)Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ^(Q)“To your ^[c]descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an ^(R)altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and ^(S)called on the name of the Lord. ⁹ So Abram journeyed, ^(T)going on still toward the ^[d]South.

The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History

The Promise Granted Through Faith

¹³ For the promise that he would be the ^(A)heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For ^(B)if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, ¹⁵ because ^(C)the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶ Therefore it is of faith that it might be ^(D)according to grace, ^(E)so that the promise might be ^[a]sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, ^(F)who is the father of us all ¹⁷ (as it is written, ^(G)“I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, ^(H)who gives life to the dead and calls those ^(I)things which do not exist as though they did; ¹⁸ who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ^(J)“So shall your descendants be.” ¹⁹ And not being weak in faith, ^(K)he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), ^(L)and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully convinced that what He had promised ^(M)He was also able to perform. ²² And therefore ^(N)“it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

²³ Now ^(O)it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, ²⁴ but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe ^(P)in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, ^25 (Q)who was delivered up because of our offenses, and ^(R)was raised because of our justification.

Matthew the Tax Collector^(A)

^9 (B)As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

^10 (C)Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with ^(D)tax collectors and ^(E)sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ^(F)‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, ^(G)but sinners, ^[a]to repentance.”

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed^(A)

^18 (B)While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” ¹⁹ So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His ^(C)disciples.

^20 (D)And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and ^(E)touched the hem of His garment. ²¹ For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” ²² But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; ^(F)your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

^23 (G)When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw ^(H)the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, ²⁴ He said to them, ^(I)“Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. ²⁵ But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and ^(J)took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶ And the ^(K)report of this went out into all that land.