Ephraim’s Sins Rebuked by God

The Sign of the Covenant^(A)

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord ^(B)appeared to Abram and said to him, ^(C)“I am ^[a]Almighty God; ^(D)walk before Me and be ^(E)blameless.

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make ^(A)nations of you, and ^(B)kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will ^(C)establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, ^(D)to be God to you and ^(E)your descendants after you. ⁸ Also ^(F)I give to you and your descendants after you the land ^(G)in^[a] which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(H)I will be their God.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but ^[a]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ And I will bless her ^(A)and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother ^(B)of nations; ^(C)kings of peoples shall be from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face ^(D)and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham ^(E)said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

¹⁹ Then God said: “No, ^(F)Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My ^(G)covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and ^(H)will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget ^(I)twelve princes, ^(J)and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But My ^(K)covenant I will establish with Isaac, ^(L)whom Sarah shall bear to you at this ^(M)set time next year.”

Wrestling with God

²² And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, ^(A)and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. ²³ He took them, sent them ^[a]over the brook, and sent over what he had. ²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone; and ^(B)a Man wrestled with him until the ^[b]breaking of day. ²⁵ Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He ^[c]touched the socket of his hip; and ^(C)the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. ²⁶ And ^(D)He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”

But he said, ^(E)“I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

²⁷ So He said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

²⁸ And He said, ^(F)“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but ^[d]Israel; for you have ^(G)struggled with God and ^(H)with men, and have prevailed.”

²⁹ Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”

And He said, ^(I)“Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He ^(J)blessed him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place ^[e]Peniel: “For ^(K)I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” ³¹ Just as he crossed over ^[f]Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He ^[g]touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.

God’s True Tabernacle

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses ^(A)to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, ^45 (B)which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, ^(C)whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the ^(D)days of David, ^46 (E)who found favor before God and ^(F)asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. ^47 (G)But Solomon built Him a house.

⁴⁸ “However, ^(H)the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

Israel Resists the Holy Spirit

⁵¹ “You ^(K)stiff-necked^[a] and ^(L)uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (M)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of ^(N)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, ^53 (O)who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Greeting to the Elect Pilgrims

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the ^[a]pilgrims ^(A)of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ^2 (B)elect ^(C)according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, ^(D)in sanctification of the Spirit, for ^(E)obedience and ^(F)sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

^(G)Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

A Heavenly Inheritance

^3 (H)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ^(I)according to His abundant mercy ^(J)has begotten us again to a living hope ^(K)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance ^[b]incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, ^(L)reserved in heaven for you, ^5 (M)who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.