Proper 14 (19)

1Verse 1. Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. 2Verse 2. This is why the ancients were commended. 3Verse 3. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 8Verse 8. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. 9Verse 9. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10Verse 10. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11Verse 11. By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised. 12Verse 12. And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 13Verse 13. All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14Verse 14. Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own. 15Verse 15. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Verse 16. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

32Verse 32. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Verse 33. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34Verse 34. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 35Verse 35. Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning. 36Verse 36. Then you will be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. 37Verse 37. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them. 38Verse 38. Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, those servants will be blessed. 39Verse 39. But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40Verse 40. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.”