One Year Bible.

The Call of Abram

¹Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

²I will make you into a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

so that you will be a blessing.

³I will bless those who bless you

and curse those who curse you;

and all the families of the earth

will be blessed through you.”

⁴So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. ⁵And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan.

When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.

⁷Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

⁸From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

⁹And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. ¹¹As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman, ¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. ¹³Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”

¹⁴So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh. ¹⁶He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

¹⁷The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai. ¹⁸So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

²⁰Then Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they sent him away with his wife and all his possessions.

Abram and Lot Part Ways

¹So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev— he and his wife and all his possessions— and Lot was with him. ²And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.

³From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched, ⁴to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

⁵Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶But the land was unable to support both of them while they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they were unable to coexist. ⁷And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.

⁸So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are kinsmen. ⁹Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

Lot Proceeds toward Sodom

¹⁰And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.

¹²Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom. ¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.

God Renews the Promise to Abram

¹⁴After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west, ¹⁵for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.

¹⁶I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted. ¹⁷Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.”

¹⁸So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Make a Joyful Noise

¹A Psalm of thanksgiving.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD,

all the earth.

²Serve the LORD with gladness;

come into His presence with joyful songs.

³Know that the LORD is God.

It is He who made us, and we are His;

we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

⁴Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise;

give thanks to Him and bless His name.

⁵For the LORD is good,

and His loving devotion endures forever;

His faithfulness continues to all generations.

The Prayer of the Afflicted

¹A prayer of one who is afflicted, when he grows faint and pours out his lament before the LORD.

Hear my prayer, O LORD;

let my cry for help come before You.

²Do not hide Your face from me

in my day of distress.

Incline Your ear to me;

answer me quickly when I call.

³For my days vanish like smoke,

and my bones burn like glowing embers.

⁴My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass;

I even forget to eat my bread.

⁵Through my loud groaning

my skin hangs on my bones.

⁶I am like a desert owl,

like an owl among the ruins.

⁷I lie awake;

I am like a lone bird on a housetop.

⁸All day long my enemies taunt me;

they ridicule me and curse me.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread

and mixed my drink with tears

¹⁰because of Your indignation and wrath,

for You have picked me up and cast me aside.

¹¹My days are like lengthening shadows,

and I wither away like grass.

¹²But You, O LORD, sit enthroned forever;

Your renown endures to all generations.

¹³You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,

for it is time to show her favor —

the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For Your servants delight in her stones

and take pity on her dust.

¹⁵So the nations will fear the name of the LORD,

and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.

¹⁶For the LORD will rebuild Zion;

He has appeared in His glory.

¹⁷He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute;

He will not despise their prayer.

¹⁸Let this be written for the generation to come,

so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.

¹⁹For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary;

the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth

²⁰to hear a prisoner’s groaning,

to release those condemned to death,

²¹that they may proclaim the name of the LORD in Zion

and praise Him in Jerusalem,

²²when peoples and kingdoms assemble

to serve the LORD.

²³He has broken my strength on the way;

He has cut short my days.

²⁴I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days!

Your years go on through all generations.

²⁵In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but You remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing You will change them,

and they will be passed on.

²⁷But You remain the same,

and Your years will never end.

²⁸The children of Your servants will dwell securely,

and their descendants will be established before You.”

The Perfect High Priest

¹Every high priest is appointed from among men to represent them in matters relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is subject to weakness. ³That is why he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

⁴No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. ⁵So also Christ did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest, but He was called by the One who said to Him:

“You are My Son;

today I have become Your Father.”

⁶And in another passage God says:

“You are a priest forever

in the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. ⁸Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered. ⁹And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him ¹⁰and was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Milk and Solid Food

¹¹We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing. ¹²Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!

¹³For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.