Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 33
33 All you who are righteous,
shout joyfully to the Lord!
It’s right for those who do right to praise God.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre!
Sing praises to him with the ten-stringed harp!
3 Sing to him a new song!
Play your best with joyful shouts!
4 Because the Lord’s word is right,
his every act is done in good faith.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the Lord’s faithful love fills the whole earth.
6 The skies were made by the Lord’s word,
all their starry multitude by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the ocean waters into a heap;
he put the deep seas into storerooms.
8 All the earth honors the Lord;
all the earth’s inhabitants stand in awe of him.
9 Because when he spoke, it happened!
When he commanded, there it was!
10 The Lord overrules what the nations plan;
he frustrates what the peoples intend to do.
11 But the Lord’s plan stands forever;
what he intends to do lasts from one generation to the next.
12 The nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom God has chosen as his possession,
is truly happy!
Abram blessed by Melchizedek
17 After Abram returned from his attack on Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom came out to the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley) to meet him. 18 Now Melchizedek the king of Salem and the priest of El Elyon[a] had brought bread and wine, 19 and he blessed him,
“Bless Abram by El Elyon,
creator of heaven and earth;
20 bless El Elyon,
who gave you the victory over your enemies.”
Abram gave Melchizedek one-tenth of everything. 21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the property for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I promised the Lord, El Elyon, creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I wouldn’t take even a thread or a sandal strap from anything that was yours so that you couldn’t say, ‘I’m the one who made Abram rich.’ 24 The only exception is that the young men may keep whatever they have taken to eat, and the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—may keep their share.”
On the Island of Malta
28 After reaching land safely, we learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness. Because it was rainy and cold, they built a fire and welcomed all of us. 3 Paul gathered a bunch of dry sticks and put them on the fire. As he did, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, latched on to his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He was rescued from the sea, but the goddess Justice hasn’t let him live!” 5 Paul shook the snake into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They expected him to swell up with fever or suddenly drop dead. After waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to claim that he was a god.
7 Publius, the island’s most prominent person, owned a large estate in that area. He welcomed us warmly into his home as his guests for three days. 8 Publius’ father was bedridden, sick with a fever and dysentery. Paul went to see him and prayed. He placed his hand on him and healed him. 9 Once this happened, the rest of the sick on the island came to him and were healed. 10 They honored us in many ways. When we were getting ready to sail again, they supplied us with what we needed.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible