Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Call of Abram

12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your family, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

⁴ So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Harran. ⁵ Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had accumulated, and the people that they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. They came to the land of Canaan.

⁶ Then Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanites were in the land at that time. ⁷ The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

⁸ From there he continued on to a mountain to the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. ⁹ Then Abram continued his journey toward the Negev.

Psalm 33

The Sovereignty of the Lord.

The Promise Received Through Faith

¹³ It was not through the law that Abraham and his descendants received the promise that he would be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For if those who are of the law become heirs, faith would be made void and the promise nullified, ¹⁵ because the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, there is no sin.

¹⁶ Therefore the promise comes through faith, so that it might be by grace, that the promise would be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all ¹⁷ (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”^[a]) before God whom he believed, and who raises the dead, and calls those things that do not exist as though they did.

¹⁸ Against all hope, he believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”^{[b] 19} And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body to be dead (when he was about a hundred years old), nor yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was able to perform. ²² Therefore “it was credited to him as righteousness.”^{[c] 23} Now the words, “it was credited to him,” were not written for his sake only, ²⁴ but also for us, to whom it shall be credited if we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ who was delivered for our transgressions, and was raised for our justification.

The Calling of Matthew^(A)

⁹ As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s station. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he rose and followed Him.

¹⁰ While Jesus sat at supper in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² But when Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’^[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

The Ruler’s Daughter and a Woman Healed^(A)

¹⁸ While He was speaking these things to them, a certain ruler came and worshipped Him, saying, “My daughter is even now dead. But come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹ Jesus rose and followed him, and so did His disciples.

²⁰ Then a woman, who was ill with a flow of blood for twelve years, came behind Him and touched the hem of His garment. ²¹ For she said within herself, “If I may just touch His garment, I shall be healed.”

²² But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her, He said, “Daughter, be of good comfort. Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well instantly.

²³ When Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the musicians and the mourners making a noise, ²⁴ He said to them, “Depart. The girl is not dead, but is sleeping.” And they laughed Him to scorn. ²⁵ But when the people were put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶ The news of this went out into all that land.