Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹ ¶ Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous, for to the upright praise is beautiful.

² Celebrate unto the LORD with harp; sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.

³ Sing unto him a new song; play unto excellence with joy.

⁴ For the word of the LORD is right, and all his works are done in truth.

⁵ He loves righteousness and judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of the LORD.

⁶ By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; he lays up the deeps for treasures.

⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

⁹ For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it came into being.

¹⁰ The LORD brings the counsel of the Gentiles to nought; he makes the devices of the peoples of no effect.

¹¹ The counsel of the LORD stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

¹² ¶ Blessed is the people whose God is the LORD; the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.

¹⁷ ¶ And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the valley of the king.

¹⁸ Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God.

¹⁹ And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of the heavens and of the earth;

²⁰ and blessed be the most high God, who has delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And Abram gave him tithes of all.

²¹ ¶ Then the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons and take the goods to thyself.

²² And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of the heavens and of the earth,

²³ that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet; I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou should say, I have made Abram rich,

²⁴ except only that which the young men have eaten and the portion of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, who shall take their portion.

28 ¶ And when they were escaped, then we knew that the island was called Melita. {or Malta}

² And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness; for they kindled a great fire and received all of us because of the present rain and because of the cold.

³ And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out of the heat and fastened on his hand.

⁴ And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet vengeance does not suffer him to live.

⁵ And he shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm.

⁶ But they were waiting to see when he should have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly; but after they had waited a great while and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷ In the same quarters were possessions of a principal man of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and lodged us three days courteously.

⁸ And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of dysentery, to whom Paul entered in and prayed and laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹ So when this was done, others also, who had diseases in the island, came and were healed,

¹⁰ who also honoured us with many gifts; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary.