Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History
33 Rejoice (A)in the Lord, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
[a]Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 (B)By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the (C)host of them (D)by the breath of His mouth.
7 (E)He gathers the waters of the sea together [b]as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For (F)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
17 And the king of Sodom (A)went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the (B)King’s Valley), (C)after his return from the [a]defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.
Abram and Melchizedek(D)
18 Then (E)Melchizedek king of Salem brought out (F)bread and wine; he was (G)the priest of (H)God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said:
(I)“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
(J)Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And (K)blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he (L)gave him [b]a tithe of all.
21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the [c]persons, and take the goods for yourself.”
22 But Abram (M)said to the king of Sodom, “I (N)have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, (O)the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that (P)I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— 24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”
Paul’s Ministry on Malta
28 Now when they had escaped, they then found out that (A)the island was called Malta. 2 And the (B)natives[a] showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. 3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” 5 But he shook off the creature into the fire and (C)suffered no harm. 6 However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and (D)said that he was a god.
7 In that region there was an estate of the [b]leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. 8 And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and (E)prayed, and (F)he laid his hands on him and healed him. 9 So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. 10 They also honored us in many (G)ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were (H)necessary.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.