Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Joy in the Salvation of the Lord
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
21 The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord;
And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire,
And have not withheld the (A)request of his lips. Selah
3 For You meet him with the blessings of goodness;
You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
4 (B)He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—
Length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great in Your salvation;
Honor and majesty You have placed upon him.
6 For You have made him most blessed forever;
(C)You have made him [a]exceedingly glad with Your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord,
And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be [b]moved.
8 Your hand will find all Your enemies;
Your right hand will find those who hate You.
9 You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger;
The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath,
And the fire shall devour them.
10 Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth,
And their [c]descendants from among the sons of men.
11 For they intended evil against You;
They devised a plot which they are not able to (D)perform.
12 Therefore You will make them turn their back;
You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.
13 Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own strength!
We will sing and praise Your power.
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. 13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly (W)that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and (X)they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve (Y)I will judge; afterward (Z)they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, (AA)you shall [d]go (AB)to your fathers in peace; (AC)you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But (AD)in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity (AE)of the Amorites (AF)is not yet complete.”
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 (AG)passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the Lord (AH)made a covenant with Abram, saying:
(AI)“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
A Tree Known by Its Fruit(A)
33 “Either make the tree good and (B)its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 (C)Brood[a] of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? (D)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure [b]of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.