Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Parashat Lech Lecha
Abram Obeys the Calling
12 Then Adonai said to Abram,
“Get going out from your land,
and from your relatives,
and from your father’s house,
to the land that I will show you.
2 My heart’s desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you,
to make your name great so that you may be a blessing.
3 My desire is to bless those who bless you,
but whoever curses you I will curse,[a]
and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.[b]
4 So Abram went, just as Adonai had spoken to him. Also Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.) 5 Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions that they had acquired, and the people that they acquired in Haran, and they left to go to the land of Canaan, and they entered the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land as far as the place of Shechem, as far as Moreh’s big tree. (The Canaanites were in the land then.)[c]
7 Then Adonai appeared to Abram, and said, “I will give this land to your seed.” So there he built an altar to Adonai, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the mountain to the east of Beth-El and erected his tent (with Beth-El to the west and Ai to the east). There he built an altar to Adonai and called on the Name of Adonai. 9 So Abram kept on journeying southward.[d]
All Creation Praise the Creator
Psalm 33
1 Sing for joy to Adonai, you righteous.
Praise is fitting for the upright.
2 Praise Adonai with the harp.
Sing praises to Him with a ten string lyre.
3 Sing to Him a new song![a]
Play skillfully amid shouts of joy.
4 For the word of Adonai is upright
and all His work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice.
The earth is full of the love of Adonai.
6 By Adonai’s word were the heavens made,
and all their host by the breath of His mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea together in a heap.
He lays up deep waters in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear Adonai.
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For He spoke, and it came to be.
He commanded, and it stood firm.
10 Adonai foils the purpose of the nations.
He thwarts the plans of the peoples.
11 The plan of Adonai stands forever,
the purposes of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is Adonai,
the people He chose for His own inheritance.
Trusting in the Promise
13 For the promise to Abraham or to his seed—to become heir of the world—was not through law, but through the righteousness based on trust. 14 For if those who are of the Torah are heirs, trust has become empty and the promise is made ineffective. 15 For the Torah brings about wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there a violation.
16 For this reason it depends on trust, so that the promise according to grace might be guaranteed to all the offspring—not only to those of the Torah but also to those of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”[a]). He is our father in the sight of God in whom he trusted, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence that which does not exist. 18 In hope beyond hope, he trusted that he would become the father of many nations according to what was spoken—“So shall your descendants be.” [b] 19 And without becoming weak in faith, he considered his own body—as good as dead, since he was already a hundred years old—and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 Yet he did not waver in unbelief concerning the promise of God. Rather, he was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God has promised, He also is able to do. [c] 22 That is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”[d]
23 Now not only for his sake was it written that it was credited to him, 24 but for our sake as well. It is credited to us as those who trust in Him who raised Yeshua our Lord from the dead. 25 He was handed over for our transgressions and raised up for the sake of setting us right.[e]
A Physician for Sinners
9 As Yeshua was passing by from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he got up and followed Him.
10 Now it happened that when Yeshua was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Yeshua and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why does this Teacher of yours eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when He heard this, Yeshua said, “Those who are healthy have no need for a doctor, but those who are sick do. 13 Now go and learn what this means: ‘Mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.’[a] For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but the sinful.”
Compassion in the Shepherd’s Touch
18 Just as He was saying these things to them, a synagogue leader came and began to bow before Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come lay Your hand on her and she will live.” 19 And Yeshua got up and began to follow him, with His disciples.
20 Just then a woman, losing blood for twelve years,[a] came from behind and touched the tzitzit of His garment. 21 For she kept saying to herself, “If only I touch His garment, I will be healed.”
22 But then Yeshua turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” He said, “your faith has made you well.” That very hour the woman was healed.
23 When Yeshua came into the synagogue leader’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, 24 He said, “Go away, for the girl isn’t dead, but sleeping.” And they began jeering at Him. 25 But when the crowd had been cleared out, He went in and took her hand, and the girl got up. 26 And news of this spread all around that region.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.