Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 21

For the choir director; a psalm by David.

The Lord’s Fourth Promise to Abram

15 Later Yahweh spoke his word to Abram in a vision. He said,

² Abram asked, “Adonay Yahweh, what will you give me? Since I’m going to die without children, Eliezer of Damascus will inherit^[b] my household. ³ You have given me no children, so this member of my household will be my heir.”

⁴ Suddenly, Yahweh 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 Yahweh, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abram’s approval by Yahweh. ⁷ Then Yahweh said to him, “I am Yahweh, 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, “Adonay Yahweh, 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 Elohim 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 Yahweh made a promise^[c] 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.”