Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Three Men Meet Abraham
18 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he was sitting by the door to his tent during the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up, and he saw three men standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and he bowed down to the ground. 3 He said, “My lord,[a] if I have now found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. 4 Now let me get a little water so that all of you can wash your feet and rest under the tree. 5 Let me get some bread so that you can refresh yourselves. After that you may go your way. That is why you have come to your servant.”
They said, “Yes, do as you have said.”
6 Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly prepare twenty quarts[b] of fine flour, knead it, and make some loaves of bread.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd, brought a good, tender calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to prepare it. 8 He took cheese curds, milk, and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them. He stood beside them under the tree while they ate.
9 They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?”
He said, “She is over there in the tent.”
10 One of the men said, “I will certainly return to you when this season comes around next year. Then Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Sarah was listening to this from the tent door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well into old age. Sarah was past the age for childbearing.[c] 12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, will I have pleasure, since my lord is also old?”
13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really give birth to a child though I am old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the set time next year I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son.”
15 Then Sarah denied it and said, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid.
The Lord said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
The Birth of Isaac
21 The Lord visited[a] Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. 2 Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age, at the set time which God had announced to him. 3 Abraham named the son who was born to him—the son whom Sarah had borne to him—[b] Isaac.[c] 4 Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 7 She said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him in his old age.”
Psalm 116
Deliverance From Death
Overview
1 I love the Lord, because he hears my voice.
He hears my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call to him all my days.
Future Devotion
12 How can I repay the Lord for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation,
and I will call on[a] the name of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord,
now in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his favored ones.
16 Ah, Lord, truly I am your servant.
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You opened my chains.
17 To you I will sacrifice a thank offering,
and I will call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
here in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtyards of the house of the Lord,
in the middle of Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord.
Justification Brings Peace and Joy
5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace[a] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we also have obtained access by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory[c] of God.
3 Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, 4 and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope. 5 And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.
God’s Love Is Evident in Christ’s Death for the Ungodly
6 For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him. 8 But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.
Pray for Workers
36 When he saw the crowds, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were troubled and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers into his harvest.”
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
10 Jesus called his twelve disciples to himself and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to heal every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
5 Jesus sent these twelve out and commanded them, “Do not go among the Gentiles, and do not enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’ 8 Heal the sick. Raise the dead. Cleanse lepers. Drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
9 Do not take gold, silver, or bronze in your money belts. 10 Do not take a bag for the journey, or two coats, sandals, or a staff, because the worker deserves his support. 11 Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy and stay there until you leave. 12 As you enter the household, give it your greeting. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace rest on it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone does not receive you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or that town. 15 Amen I tell you: It will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
16 “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on guard against people. They will hand you over to councils, and they will whip you in their synagogues. 18 You will be brought into the presence of governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 Whenever they hand you over, do not be worried about how you will respond or what you will say, because what you say will be given to you in that hour. 20 In fact you will not be the ones speaking, but the Spirit of your Father will be speaking through you.
21 “Brother will hand over his brother to death, and a father will do the same with his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by all people because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. 23 And when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Amen I tell you: You will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.