Psalm 121; Genesis 12:1–4; John 3:1–17; Romans 4:1–5; Romans 4:13–17

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Psalm 121

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of mAscents.

I vlift up my eyes to wthe hills.

From where does my help come?

xMy help comes from the Lord,

who ymade heaven and earth.

He will not zlet your foot be moved;

he who akeeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your bshade on your cright hand.

dThe sun shall not estrike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will akeep you from all evil;

he will akeep your life.

The Lord will keep

your fgoing out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.


Genesis 12:1–4

The Call of Abram

Now mthe Lord said1 to Abram, Go from your country2 and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. nAnd I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. oI will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and pin you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.3

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from qHaran.


John 3:1–17

You Must Be Born Again

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named hNicodemus, ia ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus1 jby night and said to him, kRabbi, lwe know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do munless God is with him. Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is nborn oagain2 he cannot psee the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born qof water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. rThat which is born of the flesh is sflesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.3 tDo not marvel that I said to you, You4 must be born uagain. vThe wind5 blows wwhere it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus said to him, xHow can these things be? 10 Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel yand yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, zwe speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but zyou6 do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 aNo one has bascended into heaven except che who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.7 14 And das Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man ebe lifted up, 15 that whoever believes fin him gmay have eternal life.8

For God So Loved the World

16 For hGod so loved ithe world,9 jthat he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not kperish but have eternal life. 17 For lGod did not send his Son into the world mto condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.


Romans 4:1–5

Abraham Justified by Faith

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, tour forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but unot before God. For what does the Scripture say? vAbraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now wto the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but xbelieves in1 him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,


Romans 4:13–17

The Promise Realized Through Faith

13 For ethe promise to Abraham and his offspring fthat he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 gFor if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For hthe law brings wrath, but iwhere there is no law jthere is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, kin order that the promise may rest on grace and lbe guaranteed to all his offspringnot only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, mwho is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, nI have made you the father of many nationsin the presence of the God in whom he believed, owho gives life to the dead and calls into existence pthe things that do not exist.