Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
21 To the Overseer. -- A Psalm of David. Jehovah, in Thy strength is the king joyful, In Thy salvation how greatly he rejoiceth.
2 The desire of his heart Thou gavest to him, And the request of his lips Thou hast not withheld. Selah.
3 For Thou puttest before him blessings of goodness, Thou settest on his head a crown of fine gold.
4 Life he hath asked from Thee, Thou hast given to him -- length of days, Age-during -- and for ever.
5 Great [is] his honour in Thy salvation, Honour and majesty Thou placest on him.
6 For Thou makest him blessings for ever, Thou dost cause him to rejoice with joy, By Thy countenance.
7 For the king is trusting in Jehovah, And in the kindness of the Most High He is not moved.
8 Thy hand cometh to all Thine enemies, Thy right hand doth find Thy haters.
9 Thou makest them as a furnace of fire, At the time of Thy presence. Jehovah in His anger doth swallow them, And fire doth devour them.
10 Their fruit from earth Thou destroyest, And their seed from the sons of men.
11 For they stretched out against Thee evil, They devised a wicked device, they prevail not,
12 For Thou makest them a butt, When Thy strings Thou preparest against their faces.
13 Be Thou exalted, O Jehovah in, Thy strength, We sing and we praise Thy might!
15 After these things hath the word of Jehovah been unto Abram in a vision, saying, `Fear not, Abram, I [am] a shield to thee, thy reward [is] exceeding great.'
2 And Abram saith, `Lord Jehovah, what dost Thou give to me, and I am going childless? and an acquired son in my house is Demmesek Eliezer.'
3 And Abram saith, `Lo, to me Thou hast not given seed, and lo, a domestic doth heir me.'
4 And lo, the word of Jehovah [is] unto him, saying, `This [one] doth not heir thee; but he who cometh out from thy bowels, he doth heir thee;'
5 and He bringeth him out without, and saith, `Look attentively, I pray thee, towards the heavens, and count the stars, if thou art able to count them;' and He saith to him, `Thus is thy seed.'
6 And he hath believed in Jehovah, and He reckoneth it to him -- righteousness.
7 And He saith unto him, `I [am] Jehovah who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give to thee this land to possess it;'
8 and he saith, `Lord Jehovah, whereby do I know that I possess it?'
9 And He saith unto him, `Take for Me a heifer of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a young bird;'
10 and he taketh to him all these, and separateth them in the midst, and putteth each piece over against its fellow, but the bird he hath not divided;
11 and the ravenous birds come down upon the carcases, and Abram causeth them to turn back.
12 And the sun is about to go in, and deep sleep hath fallen upon Abram, and lo, a terror of great darkness is falling upon him;
13 and He saith to Abram, `knowing -- know that thy seed is a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they have served them, and they have afflicted them four hundred years,
14 and the nation also whom they serve I judge, and after this they go out with great substance;
15 and thou -- thou comest in unto thy fathers in peace; thou art buried in a good old age;
16 and the fourth generation doth turn back hither, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.'
17 And it cometh to pass -- the sun hath gone in, and thick darkness hath been -- and lo, a furnace of smoke, and a lamp of fire, which hath passed over between those pieces.
18 In that day hath Jehovah made with Abram a covenant, saying, `To thy seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Phrat,
33 `Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad, for from the fruit is the tree known.
34 `Brood of vipers! how are ye able to speak good things -- being evil? for out of the abundance of the heart doth the mouth speak.
35 The good man out of the good treasure of the heart doth put forth the good things, and the evil man out of the evil treasure doth put forth evil things.
36 `And I say to you, that every idle word that men may speak, they shall give for it a reckoning in a day of judgment;
37 for from thy words thou shalt be declared righteous, and from thy words thou shalt be declared unrighteous.'