Genesis 12
God’s Promise to Abram
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house, to a land I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you; and in you all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 Then Abram departed as the Lord said to him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he de-parted from Haran.
5 So Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son and all their possessions and every soul they acquired in Haran, and they departed for the land of Canaan. Thus they came to the land of Canaan.
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your seed I will give this land.” And there Abram built an altar to the Lord, who appeared to him.
8 So he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.†
9 Then Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11 So it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know you are a beautiful woman.
12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, so they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13 Therefore say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and I may live because of you.”
14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. Then the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.
16 Now he treated Abram well for her sake, and gave him sheep, oxen, donkeys, male and female servants, mules and camels.
17 But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.†
18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife?
19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.”
20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning Abram; and they sent him away, with his wife and all he had.
Psalms 16
1 A prayer of David. †Listen, O Lord of my righteousness; Attend to my supplication; Give ear to my prayer that is not with deceitful lips.
2 From Your face let my judgment come; Let my eyes behold uprightness.
3 You tested my heart, when You visited me in the night; You tried me in the fire, and found nothing unjust in me.
4 That my mouth might not speak of the works of men, I held to hard ways because of the words of Your lips.
5 Restore my steps in Your paths, That my footsteps may not slip.
6 I cried out, because You listened to me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, and hear my words.
7 Magnify Your mercies, O You who save those who hope in You From those who rise up against Your right hand.
8 Keep me as the apple of Your eye; In the shelter of Your wings, You will shelter me
9 From the face of the ungodly who trouble me. My enemies surrounded my soul;
10 Their fat enclosed them; Their mouth spoke arrogantly.
11 Casting me out, they now surround me; They set their eyes to bend down to the earth.
12 They seized me like a lion ready to tear its prey, Like a young lion lurking in secret places.
13 Arise, O Lord, outrun them and trip up their heels; Rescue my soul from the ungodly, And Your sword from the enemies of Your hand.
14 O Lord, destroy them from the earth; Scatter them in their life. Their belly is filled with Your hidden things; They are satisfied with their sons, And they leave their possessions to their children.
15 As for me, in righteousness I shall behold Your face; I shall be satisfied when Your glory is revealed.
Proverbs of Solomon 3
The Laws of Wisdom
1 My son, do not forget my laws, But let your heart keep my words;
2 For length of days, and years of life and peace They will add to you.†
3 Do not let almsgiving and faithfulness forsake you, But hang them upon your neck;
4 And you will find grace And provide good things before the Lord and men.†
5 Trust in God with all your heart, And do not exalt your own wisdom.
Matthew 9
The Paralytic Restored
1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.†
2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”†
3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”
4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?
6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
7 And he arose and departed to his house.
8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
Sinners Received
9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.†
10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
The New Wine of the Kingdom
14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”†
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.
17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”