Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 46
The King’s Reign
Heading
For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah.
According to alamoth.[a] A song.
The Earth Shaken
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who can always be found in times of trouble.
2 That is why we will not fear when the earth dissolves
and when the mountains tumble into the heart of the sea.
3 Its waters roar and foam.
The mountains quake when it rises. Interlude
A City Unshaken
4 There is a river—its streams bring joy to the city of God,
to the holy dwelling of the Most High.
5 God is in her. She will not fall.
God will help her at daybreak.
6 Nations are in turmoil. Kingdoms fall.
God raises his voice. The earth melts.
7 The Lord of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is a fortress for us. Interlude
8 Come, look at the works of the Lord.
What a wasteland he has made of the earth!
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth.
He shatters the bow. He cuts up the spear.
He burns the carts[b] with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted on the earth.”
11 The Lord of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is a fortress for us. Interlude
The Call of Abram
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Get out of your country and away from your relatives and from your father’s house and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse anyone who dishonors you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to travel to the land of Canaan. Eventually they arrived in the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land until he came to the Oak of Moreh at the place called Shechem. The Canaanites were in the land at that time.
7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.”[a] Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent there, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and proclaimed[b] the name of the Lord. 9 Abram pulled out from there and kept traveling toward the Negev.[c]
17 However, each person is to live in the situation the Lord assigned to him—the situation he was in when God called him to faith. I give this same command in all the churches. 18 If a man was circumcised when he was called, he should not become uncircumcised. If a man was uncircumcised when he was called, he should not get circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping God’s commands is important. 20 Let each person stay in that calling in which he was called. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it bother you. But if you are able to become free, take advantage of it. 22 For the slave who was called to be in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person. Likewise, the free person who was called is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers,[a] let each person remain before God in the situation he was in when he was called.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.