Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 33

¹ Rejoice in the Lord, O you [uncompromisingly] righteous [you upright in right standing with God]; for praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart].

² Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; sing praises to Him with the harp of ten strings.

³ Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully [on the strings] with a loud and joyful sound.

⁴ For the word of the Lord is right; and all His work is done in faithfulness.

⁵ He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord.

⁶ By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth.^(A)

⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea as in a bottle; He puts the deeps in storage places.

⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord [revere and worship Him]; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

⁹ For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

¹⁰ The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nought; He makes the thoughts and plans of the peoples of no effect.

¹¹ The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of His heart through all generations.

¹² Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His heritage.

¹⁷ After his [Abram’s] return from the defeat and slaying of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh, that is, the King’s Valley.

¹⁸ Melchizedek king of Salem [later called Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine [for their nourishment]; he was the priest of God Most High,

¹⁹ And he blessed him and said, Blessed (favored with blessings, made blissful, joyful) be Abram by God Most High, Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth,

²⁰ And blessed, praised, and glorified be God Most High, Who has given your foes into your hand! And [Abram] gave him a tenth of all [he had taken].^(A)

²¹ And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons and keep the goods for yourself.

²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand and sworn to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth,

²³ That I would not take a thread or a shoelace or anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich.

²⁴ [Take all] except only what my young men have eaten and the share of the men [allies] who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

28 After we were safe on the island, we knew and recognized that it was called Malta.

² And the natives showed us unusual and remarkable kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed and received us all, since it had begun to rain and was cold.

³ Now Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and he was laying them on the fire when a viper crawled out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴ When the natives saw the little animal hanging from his hand, they said to one another, Doubtless this man is a murderer, for though he has been saved from the sea, Justice [^[a]the goddess of avenging] has not permitted that he should live.

⁵ Then [Paul simply] shook off the small creature into the fire and suffered no evil effects.

⁶ However, they were waiting, expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead; but when they had watched him a long time and saw nothing fatal or harmful come to him, they changed their minds and kept saying over and over that he was a god.

⁷ In the vicinity of that place there were estates belonging to the head man of the island, named Publius, who accepted and welcomed and entertained us with hearty hospitality for three days.

⁸ And it happened that the father of Publius was sick in bed with recurring attacks of fever and dysentery; and Paul went to see him, and after praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹ After this had occurred, the other people on the island who had diseases also kept coming and were cured.

¹⁰ They showed us every respect and presented many gifts to us, honoring us with many honors; and when we sailed, they provided and put on [board our ship] everything we needed.