August 13, 2028

6That night was known beforehand to our ancestors, so that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage. 7The expectation of your people was the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of their foes. 8For by the same means with which you punished our adversaries, you glorified us whom you had summoned. 9For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice and carried out with one mind the divine institution, So that your holy ones should share alike the same blessings and dangers, once they had sung the ancestral hymns of praise.

1Psalm 33 Praise of God’s Power and Providence I - Rejoice, you righteous, in the LORD; praise from the upright is fitting. 12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people chosen as his inheritance. 18Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who fear him, upon those who count on his mercy, 19To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive through famine. 20VI - Our soul waits for the LORD, he is our help and shield. 21For in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust. 22May your mercy, LORD, be upon us; as we put our hope in you.

1Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. 2Because of it the ancients were well attested. 8By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. 9By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; 10for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. 11By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age—and Sarah herself was sterile—for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. 12So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore. 13All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, 14for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. 15If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 17By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, 18of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” 19He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.

42Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. 44So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. The Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant.

32Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. 34For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. Vigilant and Faithful Servants. 35“Gird your loins and light your lamps 36and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. 37Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. 38And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. 39Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” 41Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” 42And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute [the] food allowance at the proper time? 43Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. 44Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. 45But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, 46then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. 47That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; 48and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more. Jesus: A Cause of Division.