Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer of Trust in God

27 The Lord is my light and the One Who saves me. Whom should I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom should I be afraid? ² When sinful men, and all who hated me, came against me to destroy my flesh, they tripped and fell. ³ Even if an army gathers against me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if war rises against me, I will be sure of You.

⁴ One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I will look for: that I may live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to look upon the beauty of the Lord, and to worship in His holy house. ⁵ For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His holy tent. In the secret place of His tent He will hide me. He will set me high upon a rock. ⁶ Then my head will be lifted up above all those around me who hate me. I will give gifts in His holy tent with a loud voice of joy. I will sing. Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷ O Lord, listen to my cry. Show loving-kindness to me and answer me. ⁸ You have said, “Look for My face.” My heart said to You, “O Lord, Your face will I look for.” ⁹ Do not hide Your face from me. Do not turn Your servant away in anger. You have been my Helper. Do not turn away from me or leave me alone, O God Who saves me! ¹⁰ For my father and my mother have left me. But the Lord will take care of me.

¹¹ Teach me Your way, O Lord. Lead me in a straight path, because of those who fight against me. ¹² Do not give me over to the desire of those who hate me. For people who tell lies about me rise against me, and breathe a desire to hurt me. ¹³ I would have been without hope if I had not believed that I would see the loving-kindness of the Lord in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart be strong. Yes, wait for the Lord.

Abram and Lot Go Different Ways

13 So Abram left Egypt and went to the Negev, with his wife and all that belonged to him. And Lot went with him. ² Now Abram was very rich in cattle, silver and gold. ³ He traveled from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ where he had made an altar. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. ⁵ Now Lot, who went with Abram, had flocks and cattle and tents of his own. ⁶ There was not enough land to feed all the animals while they lived together. They owned so many things that they were not able to stay together. ⁷ There was fighting between those who cared for Abram’s animals and those who cared for Lot’s animals. The Canaanite and the Perizzite were living in the land at that time.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had left him, “Raise your eyes and look from where you are to the north and south and east and west. ¹⁵ For I will give all the land that you see to you and to your children and to your children’s children forever. ¹⁶ I will make your family after you like the dust of the earth. So if anyone could number the dust of the earth, then he could number your children’s children. ¹⁷ Rise up and walk far and wide upon the land. For I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent and came to live among the oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to the Lord.

² Watch out for false teachers. Watch out for sinful men. They want you to depend on the religious act of becoming a Jew for your hope. ³ The act of becoming a Jew has nothing to do with us becoming Christians. We worship God through His Spirit and are proud of Jesus Christ. We have no faith in what we ourselves can do. ⁴ I could have reason to trust in the flesh. If anyone could feel that the flesh could do something for him, I could. ⁵ I went through the religious act of becoming a Jew when I was eight days old. I was born a Jew and came from the family group of Benjamin. I was a Jewish son of Jewish parents. I belonged to the group of the proud religious law-keepers. ⁶ I followed my religion with all my heart and did everything I could to make it hard for the church. No one could say anything against the way I obeyed the Law.

Christ Must Be Lord of Our Lives

⁷ But I gave up those things that were so important to me for Christ. ⁸ Even more than that, I think of everything as worth nothing. It is so much better to know Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for Him. And I think of these things as worth nothing so that I can have Christ. ⁹ I want to be as one with Him. I could not be right with God by what the Law said I must do. I was made right with God by faith in Christ. ¹⁰ I want to know Him. I want to have the same power in my life that raised Jesus from the dead. I want to understand and have a share in His sufferings and be like Christ in His death. ¹¹ Then I may be raised up from among the dead.

¹² I do not say that I have received this or have already become perfect. But I keep going on to make that life my own as Christ Jesus made me His own.