Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
21 The king finds joy in your strength, O Lord.
What great joy he has in your victory!
2 You gave him his heart’s desire.
You did not refuse the prayer from his lips. Selah
3 You welcomed him with the blessings of good things
and set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life.
You gave him a long life, forever and ever.
5 Because of your victory his glory is great.
You place splendor and majesty on him.
6 Yes, you made him a blessing forever.
You made him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 Indeed, the king trusts the Lord,
and through the mercy of the Most High, he will not be moved.
8 Your hand will discover all your enemies.
Your powerful hand will find all who hate you.
9 When you appear, you will make them ⌞burn⌟ like a blazing furnace.
The Lord will swallow them up in his anger.
Fire will devour them.
10 You will destroy their children from the earth
and their offspring from among Adam’s descendants.
11 Although they scheme and plan evil against you,
they will not succeed.
12 They turn their backs ⌞and flee⌟
because you aim your bow at their faces.
13 Arise, O Lord, in your strength.
We will sing and make music to praise your power.
The Lord’s Fourth Promise to Abram
15 Later the Lord spoke his word to Abram in a vision. He said,
“Abram, don’t be afraid.
I am your shield.
Your reward will be very great.” [a]
2 Abram asked, “Almighty Lord, what will you give me? Since I’m going to die without children, Eliezer of Damascus will inherit my household. 3 You have given me no children, so this member of my household will be my heir.”
4 Suddenly, the Lord spoke his word to Abram again. He said, “This man will not be your heir. Your own son will be your heir.” 5 He took Abram outside and said, “Now look up at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He also said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” 6 Then Abram believed the Lord, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abram’s approval by the Lord. 7 Then the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land so that you will take possession of it.”
8 Abram asked, “Almighty Lord, how can I be certain that I will take possession of it?”
9 He answered Abram, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a mourning dove, and a pigeon.” 10 So Abram brought all these animals to him. He cut each of them in half and laid each half opposite the other. However, he did not cut the birds in half.
11 When birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was just about to set, a deep sleep—a dreadful, deep darkness—came over Abram.
13 God said to Abram, “You can know for sure that your descendants will live in a land that is not their own, where they will be slaves, and they will be oppressed for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve, and after that they will come out with many possessions. 15 But you will die in peace and be buried at a very old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, because the sin of the Amorites will not have run its course until then.”
17 The sun had gone down, and it was dark. Suddenly a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between the animal pieces. 18 At that time the Lord made a promise [b] to Abram. He said, “I will give this land to your descendants. This is the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.
33 “Make a tree good, and then its fruit will be good. Or make a tree rotten, and then its fruit will be rotten. A person can recognize a tree by its fruit. 34 You poisonous snakes! How can you evil people say anything good? Your mouth says what comes from inside you. 35 Good people do the good things that are in them. But evil people do the evil things that are in them.
36 “I can guarantee that on judgment day people will have to give an account of every careless word they say. 37 By your words you will be declared innocent, or by your words you will be declared guilty.”
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