Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 46
God Our Refuge
For the choir director. A song of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.[a](A)
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who is always found
in times of trouble.(B)
2 Therefore we will not be afraid,
though the earth trembles
and the mountains topple
into the depths of the seas,(C)
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with its turmoil.(D)
4 There is a river—
its streams delight the city of God,
the holy dwelling place of the Most High.(E)
5 God is within her; she will not be toppled.
God will help her when the morning dawns.(F)
6 Nations rage, kingdoms topple;
the earth melts when He lifts His voice.(G)
7 The Lord of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.(H)
8 Come, see the works of the Lord,
who brings devastation on the earth.(I)
9 He makes wars cease throughout the earth.
He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces;
He burns up the chariots.[b](J)
10 “Stop your fighting—and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”(K)
11 Yahweh of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.(L)
Man and Woman in the Garden
4 These are the records(A) of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation at the time[a] that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 No shrub of the field(B) had yet grown on the land,[b] and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. 6 But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground(C) and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils,(D) and the man became a living being.(E)
8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,(F) and there He placed the man He had formed. 9 The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden,(G) as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(H)
10 A river went[c] out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.[d] 11 The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah,[e](I) where there is gold. 12 Gold from that land is pure;[f] bdellium[g] and onyx[h] are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris,(J) which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.(K)
15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,(L) 17 but you must not eat[i] from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”(M) 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.”(N) 19 So the Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it.(O) And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man[j] no helper was found as his complement. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man,(P) and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.(Q) 23 And the man said:
This one, at last, is bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called “woman,”
for she was taken from man.(R)
24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.(S) 25 Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.
God’s Gracious Election of Israel
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed.(A) For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.(B) 7 Neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants.[a](C) On the contrary, your offspring will be traced[b] through Isaac.(D)[c] 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent[d] who are God’s children,(E) but the children of the promise(F) are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.(G)[e] 10 And not only that,(H) but also Rebekah received a promise when she became pregnant[f](I) by one man, our ancestor Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand—(J) 12 not from works but from the One who calls—she was told: The older will serve the younger.(K)[g] 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.(L)[h]
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