Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Calls Abram

12 The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country and your people. Leave your father’s family and go to the country that I will show you.

Abram Goes to Canaan

⁴ So Abram left Haran just like the Lord said, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. ⁵ He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the slaves, and all the other things he had gotten in Haran. Then he and his group moved to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram traveled through the land as far as the town of Shechem and then to the big tree at Moreh. The Canaanites were living in the land at that time.

⁷ The Lord appeared^[a] to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.”

Abram built an altar to honor the Lord who appeared to him there. ⁸ Then he left that place and traveled to the mountains east of Bethel. He set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai^[b] was to the east. Abram built another altar at that place to honor the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord there. ⁹ Then he moved on toward the Negev, stopping for a time at several places on the way.

God’s Promise Received Through Faith

¹³ Abraham and his descendants received the promise that they would get the whole world. But Abraham did not receive that promise because he followed the law. He received that promise because he was right with God through his faith. ¹⁴ If people could get God’s promise by following the law, then faith is worthless. And God’s promise to Abraham is worthless, ¹⁵ because the law can only bring God’s anger on those who disobey it. But if there is no law, then there is nothing to disobey.

¹⁶ So people get what God promised by having faith. This happens so that the promise can be a free gift. And if the promise is a free gift, then all of Abraham’s people will get that promise. The promise is not just for those who live under the Law of Moses. It is for all who live with faith as Abraham did. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As the Scriptures say, “I have made you a father of many nations.”^[a] This is true before God, the one Abraham believed—the God who gives life to the dead and speaks of things that don’t yet exist as if they are real.

¹⁸ There was no hope that Abraham would have children, but Abraham believed God and continued to hope. And that is why he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “You will have many descendants.”^{[b] 19} Abraham was almost a hundred years old, so he was past the age for having children. Also, Sarah could not have children. Abraham was well aware of this, but his faith in God never became weak. ²⁰ He never doubted that God would do what he promised. He never stopped believing. In fact, he grew stronger in his faith and just praised God. ²¹ Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he promised. ²² So that’s why “he was accepted as one who is right with God.”^{[c] 23} These words (“he was accepted”) were written not only for Abraham. ²⁴ They were also written for us. God will also accept us because we believe. We believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from death. ²⁵ Jesus was handed over to die for our sins, and he was raised from death to make us right with God.

Matthew (Levi) Follows Jesus^(A)

⁹ When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the place for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” So he got up and followed Jesus.

¹⁰ Jesus ate dinner at Matthew’s house. Many tax collectors and others with bad reputations came and ate with him and his followers. ¹¹ The Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with these people. They asked his followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and other sinners?”

¹² Jesus heard them say this. So he said to them, “It is the sick people who need a doctor, not those who are healthy. ¹³ You need to go and learn what this Scripture means: ‘I don’t want animal sacrifices; I want you to show kindness to people.’^[a] I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners.”

Jesus Gives Life to a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman^(A)

¹⁸ While Jesus was still talking, a leader of the synagogue came to him. The leader bowed down before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But if you will come and touch her with your hand, she will live again.”

¹⁹ So Jesus and his followers went with the man.

²⁰ On the way, there was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She came close behind Jesus and touched the bottom of his coat. ²¹ She was thinking, “If I can touch his coat, I will be healed.”

²² Jesus turned and saw the woman. He said, “Be happy, dear woman. You are made well because you believed.” Then the woman was healed.

²³ Jesus continued going with the Jewish leader and went into the leader’s house. He saw people there who make music for funerals. And he saw a crowd of people crying loudly. ²⁴ Jesus said, “Go away. The girl is not dead. She is only sleeping.” But the people laughed at him. ²⁵ After the people were put out of the house, Jesus went into the girl’s room. He held the girl’s hand, and the girl stood up. ²⁶ The news about this spread all around the area.