Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
20 The Lord will answer you in times of trouble.
The name of the God of Jacob will protect you.
2 He will send you help from his holy place
and support you from Zion.
3 He will remember all your grain offerings
and look with favor on your burnt offerings. Selah
4 He will give you your heart’s desire
and carry out all your plans.
5 We will joyfully sing about your victory.
We will wave our flags in the name of our God.
The Lord will fulfill all your requests.
6 Now I know that the Lord will give victory to his anointed king.
He will answer him from his holy heaven
with mighty deeds of his powerful hand.
7 Some ⌞rely⌟ on chariots and others on horses,
but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God.
8 They will sink to their knees and fall,
but we will rise and stand firm.
9 Give victory to the king, O Lord.
Answer us when we call.
The Lord’s First Promise to Abram
12 The Lord said to Abram,
“Leave your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s home.
Go to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation,
I will bless you.
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you, I will curse.
Through you every family on earth will be blessed.”
The Lord’s Second Promise to Abram
4 So Abram left, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. 5 Abram set out for Canaan. He took along his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the servants they had acquired in Haran.
6 They arrived in Canaan, and Abram traveled through the land to the oak tree belonging to Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I’m going to give this land to your descendants.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Faith Directed People’s Lives
11 Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see. 2 God accepted our ancestors because of their faith.
3 Faith convinces us that God created the world through his word. This means what can be seen was made by something that could not be seen.
4 Faith led Abel to offer God a better sacrifice than Cain’s sacrifice. Through his faith Abel received God’s approval, since God accepted his sacrifices. Through his faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 Faith enabled Enoch to be taken instead of dying. No one could find him, because God had taken him. Scripture states that before Enoch was taken, God was pleased with him. 6 No one can please God without faith. Whoever goes to God must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 Faith led Noah to listen when God warned him about the things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a ship to save his family. Through faith Noah condemned the world and received God’s approval that comes through faith.
8 Faith led Abraham to obey when God called him to go to a place that he would receive as an inheritance. Abraham left his own country without knowing where he was going.
9 Faith led Abraham to live as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who received the same promise from God. 10 Abraham was waiting for the city that God had designed and built, the city with permanent foundations.
11 Faith enabled Abraham to become a father, even though he was old and Sarah had never been able to have children. Abraham trusted that God would keep his promise. 12 Abraham was as good as dead. Yet, from this man came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the grains of sand on the seashore.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.