Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 34
The Lord Delivers the Righteous
Concerning David, when he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelech,[a](A) who drove him out, and he departed.
1 I[b] will praise the Lord at all times;
His praise will always be on my lips.(B)
2 I will boast in the Lord;(C)
the humble will hear and be glad.(D)
3 Proclaim Yahweh’s greatness with me;(E)
let us exalt His name together.(F)
4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.(G)
5 Those who look to Him are[c] radiant with joy;(H)
their faces will never be ashamed.(I)
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him from all his troubles.(J)
7 The Angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear Him, and rescues them.(K)
19 Many adversities come to the one who is righteous,
but the Lord delivers him from them all.(A)
20 He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.(B)
21 Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.(C)
22 The Lord redeems the life of His servants,
and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished.(D)
Hezekiah’s Folly
12 At that time(A) Merodach-baladan[a] son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick. 13 Hezekiah gave them a hearing and showed them his whole treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.(B)
14 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?”
Hezekiah replied, “They came from a distant country, from Babylon.”
15 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace?”
Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 ‘The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’(C) says the Lord. 18 ‘Some of your descendants who come from you will be taken away,(D) and they will become eunuchs[b] in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”(E)
19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,”(F) for he thought: Why not, if there will be peace and security during my lifetime?
The Greatness of Melchizedek
7 For this Melchizedek—
King of Salem, priest of the Most High God,
who met Abraham and blessed him
as he returned from defeating the kings,
2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything;
first, his name means king of righteousness,
then also, king of Salem,
meaning king of peace;
3 without father, mother, or genealogy,
having neither beginning of days nor end of life,
but resembling the Son of God(A)—
remains a priest forever.
4 Now consider how great this man was—even Abraham the patriarch(B) gave a tenth of the plunder to him! 5 The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people(C)—that is, from their brothers—though they have also descended from Abraham.[a] 6 But one without this[b] lineage collected tenths from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.(D) 7 Without a doubt,[c] the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case, men who will die receive tenths, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives.(E) 9 And in a sense Levi himself, who receives tenths, has paid tenths through Abraham, 10 for he was still within his ancestor[d] when Melchizedek met him.
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