Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now ^(A)the Lord said to Abram,

⁴ So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and ^(G)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their ^(H)possessions which they had accumulated, and ^(I)the ^[c]people which they had acquired in Haran, and they ^[d]set out for the land of Canaan; ^(J)so they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land as far as the site of ^(K)Shechem, to the ^[e]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. ⁷ And the Lord ^(L)appeared to Abram and said, “^(M)To your ^[f]descendants I will give this land.” So he built ^(N)an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. ⁸ Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with ^(O)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and ^(P)called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward ^(Q)the ^[g]Negev.

Praise to the Creator and Protector.

¹³ For ^(A)the promise to Abraham or to his ^[a]descendants ^(B)that he would be heir of the world was not ^[b]through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For ^(C)if those who are ^[c]of the Law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise is nullified; ¹⁵ for ^(D)the Law brings about wrath, but ^(E)where there is no law, there also is no violation.

¹⁶ For this reason it is ^[d]by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with ^(F)grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to ^(G)all the ^[e]descendants, not only to ^[f]those who are of the Law, but also to ^[g](H)those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is ^(I)the father of us all, ¹⁷ (as it is written: “I have made you ^(J)a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, ^(K)who gives life to the dead and ^(L)calls into being ^(M)things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become ^(N)a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “^(O)So shall your ^[h]descendants be.” ¹⁹ Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now ^(P)as good as dead since ^(Q)he was about a hundred years old, and ^(R)the deadness of Sarah’s womb; ²⁰ yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, ^(S)giving glory to God, ²¹ and ^(T)being fully assured that ^(U)what God had promised, He was able also to perform. ²² Therefore ^(V)it was also credited to him as righteousness. ²³ Now ^(W)not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, ²⁴ but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, to us ^(X)who believe in Him who ^(Y)raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ He who was ^(Z)delivered over because of our wrongdoings, and was ^(AA)raised because of our justification.

Matthew Called

^9 (A)As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called ^(B)Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s office; and He *said to him, “^(C)Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁰ Then it happened that as ^[a]Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and ^[b]sinners came and began dining with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “^(D)Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not ^(E)those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Now go and learn ^[c](F)what this means: ‘^(G)I desire ^[d]compassion, ^[e]rather than sacrifice,’ for ^(H)I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Miracles of Healing

^18 (A)While He was saying these things to them, behold, ^[a]a synagogue ^[b]official came and ^[c](B)bowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will become alive again.” ¹⁹ Jesus got up from the table and began to accompany him, along with His disciples.

²⁰ And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him, and touched ^(C)the ^[d]border of His ^[e]cloak; ²¹ for she was ^[f]saying ^[g]to herself, “If I only ^(D)touch His cloak, I will ^[h]get well.” ²² But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, “Daughter, ^(E)take courage; ^(F)your faith has ^[i]made you well.” And ^[j]at once the woman was ^[k]made well.

²³ When Jesus came into the ^[l]official’s house and saw ^(G)the flute players and the crowd in noisy disorder, ²⁴ He said, “Leave; for the girl ^(H)has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. ²⁵ But ^(I)when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and ^(J)took her by the hand, and the girl ^[m]got up. ²⁶ And ^(K)this news spread throughout that land.