Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 21[a]
Thanksgiving for Messianic Blessings
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 O Lord, the king rejoices in your strength;
your victories fill him with great joy.[c]
3 You have granted him the desire of his heart[d]
and not withheld from him the request of his lips. Selah
4 You welcomed him with choice blessings[e]
and placed a crown of pure gold upon his head.
5 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him,
length of days forever and ever.[f]
6 He has achieved great glory through your victory;
you have bestowed upon him splendor and majesty.[g]
7 You have conferred everlasting blessings[h] on him;
you gladdened him with the joy of your presence.
8 For the king places his trust in the Lord;
through the kindness[i] of the Most High he will not fall.
9 [j]Your hand will lay hold of all your enemies;
your right hand will overcome all your foes.
10 On the day when you appear,[k]
you will cast them into a fiery furnace.
The Lord’s anger will engulf them,
and fire will consume them.
11 You will blot out their descendants from the earth
and rid the human race of their posterity.[l]
12 They have devised wicked schemes against you,
but, plot though they may, they will not succeed.
13 For you will force them to retreat
when you aim your bows at them.
14 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength;[m]
we will sing and praise your power.
Chapter 15
The Covenant Guarantee of the Promise.[a] 1 Some time later the Lord communicated these words to Abram in a vision,
“Do not fear, Abram.
I am your shield;
your reward shall be very great.”
2 Abram answered, “My Lord God, what will you give me? I will pass away without children and my heir will be Eliezer of Damascus.” 3 Abram continued, “Behold, you have not given me descendants, and my servant will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came unto him, “He will not be your heir; your own child will be your heir.” 5 Then he led him outside and told him, “Look into the heavens and count the stars, if you can count them. Such,” he continued, “will your descendants be.”
6 Abraham believed the Lord, who credited it to him as righteousness.[b]
7 And he said, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to take possession of this land.”
8 He answered, “O Lord God, how will I know that I am to possess it?”
9 He said, “Take a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 He took all these animals and split them in two and placed each half opposite the other (except for the birds). 11 Birds of prey landed upon the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
12 As the sun was setting, a trance fell upon Abram, and a fearful darkness descended upon him. 13 The Lord said to Abram, “Know that your descendants shall be foreigners in a land that is not their own. They shall be made slaves and oppressed for four hundred years. 14 But I will execute my judgment upon the nation that they will have served. They will leave it with great riches. 15 As for you, you will go in peace to your fathers, and you will be buried at a happy old age. 16 In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet come to full measure.”
17 When the sun set, it was dark, and a smoking brazier and a flaming torch passed between the carcasses of the animals that had been split in two.[c] 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, “To your descendants I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates,
33 A Tree and Its Fruits.[a]“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad. For a tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can your speech be virtuous when you yourselves are evil? For the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart. 35 A good man brings forth good things from the good stored up within him, but an evil man brings forth evil things from his store of evil. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to render an account for every careless word they utter. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
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