Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise for Deliverance.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
21 O Lord, in Your strength the king will (A)be glad,
And in Your [a]salvation how greatly he will rejoice!
2 You have (B)given him his heart’s desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips. [b]Selah.
3 For You (C)meet him with the blessings of good things;
You set a (D)crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked life of You,
You (E)gave it to him,
(F)Length of days forever and ever.
5 His (G)glory is great through Your [c]salvation,
(H)Splendor and majesty You place upon him.
6 For You make him [d]most (I)blessed forever;
You make him joyful (J)with gladness in Your presence.
7 For the king (K)trusts in the Lord,
And through the lovingkindness of the Most High (L)he will not be shaken.
8 Your hand will (M)find out all your enemies;
Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them (N)as a fiery oven in the time [e]of your anger;
The Lord will (O)swallow them up in His wrath,
And (P)fire will devour them.
10 Their [f]offspring You will destroy from the earth,
And their [g](Q)descendants from among the sons of men.
11 Though they [h](R)intended evil against You
And (S)devised a plot,
They will not succeed.
12 For You will (T)make them turn their back;
You will [i]aim (U)with Your bowstrings at their faces.
13 Be exalted, O Lord, in Your strength;
We will (V)sing and praise Your power.
Abram Promised a Son
15 After these things (A)the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
2 Abram said, “O Lord [b]God, what will You give me, since I [c]am childless, and the [d]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “[e]Since You have given no [f]offspring to me, [g]one (E)born in my house is my heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; (F)but one who will come forth from your own [h]body, he shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and (G)count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “(H)So shall your [i]descendants be.” 6 (I)Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of (J)Ur of the Chaldeans, to (K)give you this land to [j]possess it.” 8 He said, “O Lord [k]God, (L)how may I know that I will [l]possess it?” 9 So He said to him, “[m]Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he [n]brought all these to Him and (M)cut them [o]in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he (N)did not cut the birds. 11 The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, (O)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, [p]terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that (P)your [q]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, [r]where (Q)they will be enslaved and oppressed (R)four hundred years. 14 But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out (S)with [s]many possessions. 15 As for you, (T)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16 Then in (U)the fourth generation they will return here, for (V)the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
17 It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which (W)passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
Words Reveal Character
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for (A)the tree is known by its fruit. 34 (B)You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak [a]what is good? (C)For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 (D)The good man brings out of his good treasure [b]what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure [c]what is evil. 36 But I tell you that every [d]careless word that people [e]speak, they shall give an accounting for it in (E)the day of judgment. 37 For [f]by your words you will be justified, and [g]by your words you will be condemned.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.