Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
33 Rejoice in the Lord, good people!
It is only right for good people to praise him.
2 Play the lyre and praise the Lord.
Play the ten-stringed harp for him.
3 Sing a new song[a] to him.
Play it well and sing it loud!
4 The Lord’s word is true,
and he is faithful in everything he does.
5 He loves goodness and justice.
The Lord’s faithful love fills the earth.
6 The Lord spoke the command, and the world was made.
The breath from his mouth created everything in the heavens.
7 He gathered together the water of the sea.
He put the ocean in its place.
8 Everyone on earth should fear and respect the Lord.
All the people in the world should fear him,
9 because when he speaks, things happen.
And if he says, “Stop!”—then it stops.[b]
10 The Lord can ruin every decision the nations make.
He can spoil all their plans.
11 But the Lord’s decisions are good forever.
His plans are good for generation after generation.
12 Great blessings belong to those who have the Lord as their God!
He chose them to be his own special people.
17 Then Abram went home after he defeated Kedorlaomer and the kings with him. On his way home, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh. (This is now called King’s Valley.)
Melchizedek
18 Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, also went to meet Abram. He brought bread and wine. 19 He blessed Abram and said,
“Abram, may you be blessed by God Most High,
the one who made heaven and earth.
20 And we praise God Most High,
who helped you defeat your enemies.”
Abram gave Melchizedek one-tenth of everything he had taken during the battle. 21 Then the king of Sodom told Abram, “Give me my people who were captured. But you can keep everything else.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I promise to the Lord, the God Most High, the one who made heaven and earth. 23 I promise that I will not keep anything that is yours—not even a thread or a sandal strap! I don’t want you to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 The only thing I will accept is the food that my young men have eaten, but you should give the other men their share. Take what we won in battle and give some to Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. These men helped me in the battle.”
Paul on the Island of Malta
28 When we were safe on land, we learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The people who lived there were very good to us. It was raining and very cold, so they built a fire and welcomed all of us. 3 Paul gathered a pile of sticks for the fire. He was putting the sticks on the fire, and a poisonous snake came out because of the heat and bit him on the hand. 4 When the people living on the island saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said, “This man must be a murderer! He did not die in the sea, but Justice[a] does not want him to live.”
5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and was not hurt. 6 The people thought he would swell up or fall down dead. They waited and watched him for a long time, but nothing bad happened to him. So they changed their opinion. They said, “He is a god!”
7 There were some fields around that same area. They were owned by a man named Publius, the most important Roman official on the island. He welcomed us into his home and was very good to us. We stayed in his house for three days. 8 Publius’ father was very sick. He had a fever and dysentery, but Paul went to him and prayed for him. He laid his hands on the man and healed him. 9 After this happened, all the other sick people on the island came to Paul, and he healed them too.
10-11 The people on the island gave us many honors. And after we had been there three months and were ready to leave, they provided us everything we needed for our trip.
Paul Goes to Rome
We got on a ship from Alexandria that had stayed on the island of Malta during the winter. On the front of the ship was the sign for the twin gods.[b]
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International