Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
33 Rejoice in Adonai, you righteous!
Praise is well-suited to the upright.
2 Give thanks to Adonai with the lyre,
sing praises to him with a ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing to him a new song,
make music at your best among shouts of joy.
4 For the word of Adonai is true,
and all his work is trustworthy.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the grace of Adonai.
6 By the word of Adonai the heavens were made,
and their whole host by a breath from his mouth.
7 He collects the sea waters together in a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear Adonai!
Let all living in the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and there it was;
he commanded, and there it stood.
10 Adonai brings to nothing the plans of nations,
he foils the plans of the peoples.
11 But the counsel of Adonai stands forever,
his heart’s plans are for all generations.
12 How blessed is the nation whose God is Adonai,
the people he chose as his heritage!
17 After his return from slaughtering K’dorla‘omer and the kings with him, the king of S’dom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley, also known as the King’s Valley.
18 Malki-Tzedek king of Shalem brought out bread and wine. He was cohen of El ‘Elyon [God Most High], 19 so he blessed him with these words:
“Blessed be Avram by El ‘Elyon,
maker of heaven of earth.
20 and blessed be El ‘Elyon,
who handed your enemies over to you.”
Avram gave him a tenth of everything.
(v) 21 The king of S’dom said to Avram, “Give me the people, and keep the goods for yourself.” 22 But Avram answered the king of S’dom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to Adonai, El ‘Elyon, maker of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal thong of anything that is yours; so that you won’t be able to say, ‘I made Avram rich.’ 24 I will take only what my troops have eaten and the share of the spoil belonging to the men who came with me — ‘Aner, Eshkol and Mamre; let them have their share.”
28 After our escape, we learned that the island was called Malta. 2 Its people showed extraordinary kindness — it was cold and it had started to rain, so they lit a bonfire and welcomed us all. 3 Sha’ul had gathered a bundle of sticks and was adding them to the fire, when a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand. 4 The islanders saw the creature hanging from Sha’ul’s hand and said to one another, “This man must be a murderer. Even though he escaped the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They waited, expecting him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing that nothing amiss was happening to him, they reversed their opinion and said he was a god.
7 Nearby were lands belonging to the governor of the island, whose name was Publius. He received us in a friendly manner and put us up for three days. 8 Now it so happened that Publius’ father was lying in bed, sick with fever attacks and dysentery. Sha’ul went in to him, prayed, placed his hands on him and healed him. 9 After this happened, the rest of those on the island who had ailments came and were healed. 10 They heaped honors on us; and when the time came for us to sail, they provided the supplies we needed.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.