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.
Abram Promised a Son
15 After these things (A)the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
2 Abram said, “O Lord [b]God, what will You give me, since I [c]am childless, and the [d]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “[e]Since You have given no [f]offspring to me, [g]one (E)born in my house is my heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; (F)but one who will come forth from your own [h]body, he shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and (G)count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “(H)So shall your [i]descendants be.” 6 (I)Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of (J)Ur of the Chaldeans, to (K)give you this land to [j]possess it.” 8 He said, “O Lord [k]God, (L)how may I know that I will [l]possess it?” 9 So He said to him, “[m]Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he [n]brought all these to Him and (M)cut them [o]in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he (N)did not cut the birds. 11 The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, (O)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, [p]terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that (P)your [q]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, [r]where (Q)they will be enslaved and oppressed (R)four hundred years. 14 But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out (S)with [s]many possessions. 15 As for you, (T)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16 Then in (U)the fourth generation they will return here, for (V)the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
17 It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which (W)passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
“(X)To your [t]descendants I have given this land,
From (Y)the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 (Z)the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite 20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim
27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, (A)Son of David!” 28 When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus *said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They *said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “[a]It shall be done to you (B)according to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus (C)sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!” 31 But they went out and (D)spread the news about Him throughout all that land.
32 As they were going out, (E)a mute, (F)demon-possessed man [b]was brought to Him. 33 After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “(G)Nothing like this has [c]ever been seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees were saying, “He (H)casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.