Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise to the Creator and Preserver.
33 (A)Sing for joy in the Lord, O 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 upright,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the lovingkindness 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 host.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea together [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deeps 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 [b]stood fast.
10 The Lord (R)nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The (S)counsel 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 whom 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 king of Salem brought out (D)bread and wine; now he was a (E)priest of [b]God Most High. 19 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 delivered your enemies into your hand.”
(G)He gave him a tenth of all. 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the [f]people to me and take the goods for yourself.” 22 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 thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would 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 because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and (E)received us all. 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 (H)he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 But they were expecting that he was about 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 neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us courteously three days. 8 And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with recurrent fever and dysentery; and Paul went in to see him and after he had (J)prayed, he (K)laid his hands on him and healed him. 9 After this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and getting cured. 10 They also honored us with many [f]marks of respect; and when we were setting sail, they [g]supplied us with [h]all we needed.
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