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Psalm 46

1  God is our refuge and strength, ♦︎
   a very present help in trouble;
2  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, ♦︎
   and though the mountains tremble in the heart of the sea;
3  Though the waters rage and swell, ♦︎
   and though the mountains quake at the towering seas.
4  There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, ♦︎
   the holy place of the dwelling of the Most High.
5  God is in the midst of her;
      therefore shall she not be removed; ♦︎
   God shall help her at the break of day.
6  The nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken, ♦︎
   but God utters his voice and the earth shall melt away.
7  The Lord of hosts is with us; ♦︎
   the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
8  Come and behold the works of the Lord, ♦︎
   what destruction he has wrought upon the earth.
9  He makes wars to cease in all the world; ♦︎
   he shatters the bow and snaps the spear
      and burns the chariots in the fire.
10  ‘Be still, and know that I am God; ♦︎
   I will be exalted among the nations;
      I will be exalted in the earth.’
11  The Lord of hosts is with us; ♦︎
   the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

The Call of Abram

12Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ²I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’^*

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, ⁶Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak^* of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, ‘To your offspring^* I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. ⁹And Abram journeyed on by stages towards the Negeb.

The Life That the Lord Has Assigned

17 However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches. ¹⁸Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. ¹⁹Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything. ²⁰Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.

21 Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition now more than ever.^{* 22}For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ. ²³You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters. ²⁴In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters,^* there remain with God.