Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise to the Creator and Protector.
33 (A)Sing for joy in the Lord, you righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord (G)is right,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 By the (K)word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their [a]lights.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea together [b]as a heap;
He puts the depths in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it [c]stood firm.
10 The Lord (R)nullifies the plan of nations;
He frustrates the plans of peoples.
11 The (S)plan of the Lord stands forever,
The (T)plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
God’s Promise to Abram
17 Then after his return from the [a]defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, (A)the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, (B)the King’s Valley). 18 And (C)Melchizedek the king of Salem brought out (D)bread and wine; now he was a (E)priest of [b]God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram of [c]God Most High,
[d](F)Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be [e]God Most High,
Who has handed over your enemies to you.”
And (G)he gave him a tenth of everything. 21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the [f]people to me and take the possessions for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have [g]sworn to the Lord [h](H)God Most High, [i](I)Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that (J)I will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you do not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 [j]I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, (K)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”
Safe at Malta
28 When (A)they had been brought safely through, (B)then we found out that (C)the island was called [a]Malta. 2 (D)The [b]natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and (E)took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold. 3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out [c]because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 4 When (F)the [d]natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “(G)Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, [e]justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 However, [f](H)Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and (I)began to say that he was a god.
7 Now in the neighboring parts of that place were lands belonging to the [g]leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days. 8 And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after he (J)prayed, he (K)laid his hands on him and healed him. 9 After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured. 10 They also showed us many honors, and when we were about to set sail, they [h]supplied us with [i]everything we needed.
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