January 19, 2022

Genesis 15

¹After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. " ²But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" ³And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." ⁴Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." ⁵He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." ⁶Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. ⁷He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it." ⁸But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" ⁹So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." ¹⁰Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹²As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. ¹⁴But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. ¹⁵You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." ¹⁷When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-- ¹⁹the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

 

 

Psalm 18:1–30

¹For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. He sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, O LORD, my strength. ²The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ³I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. ⁴The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. ⁵The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. ⁶In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. ⁷The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. ⁸Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. ⁹He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. ¹⁰He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. ¹¹He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him-- the dark rain clouds of the sky. ¹²Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. ¹³The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. ¹⁴He shot his arrows and scattered [the enemies], great bolts of lightning and routed them. ¹⁵The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. ¹⁶He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. ¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. ¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. ¹⁹He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. ²⁰The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. ²¹For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God. ²²All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. ²³I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. ²⁴The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. ²⁵To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, ²⁶to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. ²⁷You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. ²⁸You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. ²⁹With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. ³⁰As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

 

 

Matthew 10:5–25

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' ⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. ⁹Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; ¹⁰take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep. ¹¹"Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. ¹²As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. ¹⁵I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. ¹⁶I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. ¹⁷"Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. ¹⁸On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ²¹"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ²²All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. ²³When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. ²⁴"A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!