Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
33 Joyfully sing to the Lord, you righteous people.
Praising ⌞the Lord⌟ is proper for decent people.
2 Give thanks with a lyre to the Lord.
Make music for him on a ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing a new song to him.
Play beautifully and joyfully on stringed instruments.
4 The Lord’s word is correct,
and everything he does is trustworthy.
5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice.
His mercy fills the earth.
6 The heavens were made by the Lord’s word
and all the stars by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the water in the sea like a dam
and puts the oceans in his storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord.
Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him.
9 He spoke, and it came into being.
He gave the order, and there it stood.
10 The Lord blocks the plans of the nations.
He frustrates the schemes of the people of the world.
11 The Lord’s plan stands firm forever.
His thoughts stand firm in every generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.
Blessed are the people he has chosen as his own.
Melchizedek Blesses Abram
17 After Abram came back from defeating Chedorlaomer and his allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 Then King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High. 19 He blessed Abram, and said,
“Blessed is Abram by God Most High,
maker [a] of heaven and earth.
20 Blessed is God Most High,
who has handed your enemies over to you.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, and keep everything else for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I now raise my hand and solemnly swear to the Lord God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, 23 that I won’t take a thread or a sandal strap. I won’t take anything that is yours so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I won’t take one single thing except what my men have eaten. But let my allies Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
Paul on the Island of Malta
28 When we were safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The people who lived on the island were unusually kind to us. They made a fire and welcomed all of us around it because of the rain and the cold.
3 Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire. The heat forced a poisonous snake out of the brushwood. The snake bit Paul’s hand and wouldn’t let go. 4 When the people who lived on the island saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He may have escaped from the sea, but justice won’t let him live.”
5 Paul shook the snake into the fire and wasn’t harmed. 6 The people were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they had waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
7 A man named Publius, who was the governor of the island, had property around the area. He welcomed us and treated us kindly, and for three days we were his guests. 8 His father happened to be sick in bed. He was suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, prayed, placed his hands on him, and made him well.
9 After that had happened, other sick people on the island went to Paul and were made well. 10 They showed respect for us in many ways, and when we were going to set sail, they put whatever we needed on board.
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