Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 20
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.
1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
may the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
2 may He send you help from the sanctuary,
and strengthen you from Zion;
3 may He remember all your offerings,
and accept your burnt offering. Selah
4 May He grant you according to your own heart,
and fulfill all your counsel.
5 We will rejoice in your salvation,
and in the name of our God we will set up our banners;
may the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
with the saving strength of His right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,
but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen,
but we arise and stand upright.
9 Save, Lord!
May the King answer us when we call.
The Call of Abram
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your family, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make of you a great nation;
I will bless you
and make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless them who bless you
and curse him who curses you,[a]
and in you all families of the earth
will be blessed.”
4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Harran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had accumulated, and the people that they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. They came to the land of Canaan.
6 Then Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanites were in the land at that time. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Faith
11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old obtained a good report.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was framed by the word of God, so that things that are seen were not made out of things which are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain offered. Through this he was approved as righteous, with God testifying concerning his gifts. He still speaks through his faith, though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken to heaven so that he would not see death. He was not found, because God took him away. For before he was taken, he had this commendation, that he pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to save his family, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out into a place which he would later receive as an inheritance. He went out not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the promised land, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the same promise, 10 for he was looking for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself also received the ability to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, who was as good as dead, sprang so many, a multitude as the stars of the sky and innumerable as the sand by the seashore.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.