Lectionary 19, Year C

¹ After these things the LORD’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” ² Abram said, “Lord the LORD, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Abram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.” ⁴ Behold, the LORD’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.” ⁵ The LORD brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your offspring will be.” ⁶ He believed in the LORD, who credited it to him for righteousness.

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. ¹³ The LORD looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. ¹⁴ From the place of his habitation he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, ¹⁵ he who fashions all of their hearts; and he considers all of their works. ¹⁶ There is no king saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. ¹⁷ A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither does he deliver any by his great power. ¹⁸ Behold, the LORD’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness, ¹⁹ to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine. ²⁰ Our soul has waited for the LORD. He is our help and our shield. ²¹ For our heart rejoices in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. ²² Let your loving kindness be on us, O LORD, since we have hoped in you.

¹ Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. ² For by this, the elders obtained testimony. ³ By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.

⁸ By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went. ⁹ By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God. ¹¹ By faith, even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead. ¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. ¹⁵ If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.