Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.
A Psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my (A)light and my (B)salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the [a](C)defense of my life;
(D)Whom shall I dread?
2 When evildoers came upon me to (E)devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they (F)stumbled and fell.
3 Though a (G)host encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
In spite of this I [b]shall be (H)confident.
4 (I)One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may (J)dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold (K)the [c]beauty of the Lord
And to [d](L)meditate in His temple.
5 For in the (M)day of trouble He will (N)conceal me in His [e]tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will (O)hide me;
He will (P)lift me up on a rock.
6 And now (Q)my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent (R)sacrifices [f]with shouts of joy;
I will (S)sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 (T)Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and (U)answer me.
8 When You said, “(V)Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, (W)I shall seek.”
9 (X)Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in (Y)anger;
You have been (Z)my help;
(AA)Do not abandon me nor (AB)forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
10 [g]For my father and (AC)my mother have forsaken me,
But (AD)the Lord will take me up.
11 (AE)Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a (AF)level path
Because of [h]my foes.
12 Do not deliver me over to the [i](AG)desire of my adversaries,
For (AH)false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as (AI)breathe out violence.
13 [j]I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the (AJ)goodness of the Lord
In the (AK)land of the living.
14 (AL)Wait for the Lord;
Be (AM)strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.
Abram and Lot
13 So Abram went up from Egypt to (A)the [a]Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.
2 Now Abram was (B)very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. 3 He went [b]on his journeys from the [c]Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, (C)between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the (D)altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. 5 Now (E)Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 And (F)the land could not [d]sustain them [e]while dwelling together, (G)for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. 7 (H)And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now (I)the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.
14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “(A)Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, (B)northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 (C)for all the land which you see, (D)I will give it to you and to your [a]descendants forever. 16 I will make your [b]descendants (E)as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your [c]descendants can also be numbered. 17 Arise, (F)walk about the land through its length and breadth; for (G)I will give it to you.” 18 Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the [d](H)oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built (I)an altar to the Lord.
2 Beware of the (A)dogs, beware of the (B)evil workers, beware of the [a]false circumcision; 3 for (C)we are the true [b]circumcision, who (D)worship in the Spirit of God and (E)glory in (F)Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, 4 although (G)I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 (H)circumcised the eighth day, of the (I)nation of Israel, of the (J)tribe of Benjamin, a (K)Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, (L)a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, (M)a persecutor of the church; as to the (N)righteousness which is in the Law, found (O)blameless.
7 But (P)whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss [c]in view of the surpassing value of [d](Q)knowing (R)Christ Jesus my Lord, [e]for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having (S)a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, (T)the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may (U)know Him and (V)the power of His resurrection and [f](W)the fellowship of His sufferings, being (X)conformed to His death; 11 [g]in order that I may (Y)attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already (Z)obtained it or have already (AA)become perfect, but I press on [h]so that I may (AB)lay hold of that [i]for which also I (AC)was laid hold of by (AD)Christ Jesus.
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