Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Covenant with Abram(A)
15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram (B)in a vision, saying, (C)“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your (D)shield, [a]your exceedingly (E)great reward.”
2 (F)But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, (G)seeing I [b]go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed (H)one[c] born in my house is my heir!”
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who (I)will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and (J)count the (K)stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, (L)“So shall your (M)descendants be.”
6 And he (N)believed in the Lord, and He (O)accounted it to him for righteousness.
7 Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who (P)brought you out of (Q)Ur of the Chaldeans, (R)to give you this land to inherit it.”
8 And he said, “Lord God, (S)how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he brought all these to Him and (T)cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut (U)the birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, (V)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that (A)passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the Lord (B)made a covenant with Abram, saying:
(C)“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
An Exuberant Declaration of Faith
A Psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my (A)light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The (B)Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To (C)eat[a] up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 (D)Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
4 (E)One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may (F)dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the [b]beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
5 For (G)in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall (H)set me high upon a rock.
6 And now (I)my head shall be [c]lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of [d]joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
9 (J)Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
10 (K)When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.
11 (L)Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For (M)false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
(N)In the land of the living.
Our Citizenship in Heaven
17 Brethren, (A)join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as (B)you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are (C)the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 (D)whose end is destruction, (E)whose god is their belly, and (F)whose glory is in their shame—(G)who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For (H)our citizenship is in heaven, (I)from which we also (J)eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 (K)who will transform our lowly body that it may be (L)conformed to His glorious body, (M)according to the working by which He is able even to (N)subdue all things to Himself.
Be Anxious for Nothing; Think These Thoughts
4 Therefore, my beloved and (O)longed-for brethren, (P)my joy and crown, so (Q)stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
31 [a]On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.”
32 And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day (A)I shall be [b]perfected.’ 33 Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.
Jesus Laments over Jerusalem(B)
34 (C)“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! (D)Your house is left to you desolate; and [c]assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, (E)‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Jesus Transfigured on the Mount(A)
28 (B)Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. 30 And behold, two men talked with Him, who were (C)Moses and (D)Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His [a]decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 But Peter and those with him (E)were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. 33 Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three [b]tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.
34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the (F)cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, (G)“This is [c]My beloved Son. (H)Hear Him!” 36 When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. (I)But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.
A Boy Is Healed(A)
37 (B)Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. 38 Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. 39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. 40 So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
41 Then Jesus answered and said, “O [a]faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and [b]bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.
Jesus Again Predicts His Death(C)
43 And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.
But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.