Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer to Be Kept Safe

20 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe. ² May He send you help from the house of God, and give you strength from Zion. ³ May He remember all your gifts of grain given on the altar in worship. And may He be pleased with your burnt gifts.

⁴ May He give you the desire of your heart, and make all your plans go well. ⁵ We will sing for joy when you win. In the name of our God we will lift up our flags. May the Lord give you all the things you ask Him for.

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves His chosen one. He will answer him from His holy heaven, with the saving power of His right hand. ⁷ Some trust in wagons and some in horses. But we will trust in the name of the Lord, our God. ⁸ They have fallen on their knees. But we rise up and stand straight. ⁹ O Lord, save! May the King answer us when we call.

God Calls Abram

12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make you a great nation. I will bring good to you. I will make your name great, so you will be honored. ³ I will bring good to those who are good to you. And I will curse those who curse you. Good will come to all the families of the earth because of you.”

⁴ So Abram left as the Lord told him to do, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. ⁵ Abram took his wife Sarai, and his brother’s son Lot, and all the things they had gathered, and the people who joined them in Haran. And they left to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land as far as the oak of Moreh at Shechem. The Canaanite people were living in the land at that time. ⁷ Then the Lord showed Himself to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your children and to your children’s children.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord Who had shown Himself to him.

Faith

11 Now faith is being sure we will get what we hope for. It is being sure of what we cannot see. ² God was pleased with the men who had faith who lived long ago.

³ Through faith we understand that the world was made by the Word of God. Things we see were made from what could not be seen.

⁴ Because Abel had faith, he gave a better gift in worship to God than Cain. His gift pleased God. Abel was right with God. Abel died, but by faith he is still speaking to us.

⁵ Because Enoch had faith, he was taken up from the earth without dying. He could not be found because God had taken him. The Holy Writings tell how he pleased God before he was taken up. ⁶ A man cannot please God unless he has faith. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is. That one must also know that God gives what is promised to the one who keeps on looking for Him.

⁷ Because Noah had faith, he built a large boat for his family. God told him what was going to happen. His faith made him hear God speak and he obeyed. His family was saved from death because he built the boat. In this way, Noah showed the world how sinful it was. Noah became right with God because of his faith in God.

⁸ Because Abraham had faith, he obeyed God when God called him to leave his home. He was to go to another country that God promised to give him. He left his home without knowing where he was going. ⁹ His faith in God kept him living as a stranger in the country God had promised to him. Isaac and Jacob had received the same promise. They all lived in tents together. ¹⁰ Abraham was looking to God and waiting for a city that could not be moved. It was a city planned and built by God.

¹¹ Because Sarah had faith, she was able to have a child long after she was past the age to have children. She had faith to believe that God would do what He promised. ¹² Abraham was too old to have children. But from this one man came a family with as many in it as the stars in the sky and as many as the sand by the sea.