Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

^[a] Of David, when he ^(A)changed his behavior before ^(B)Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Ethan the Ezrahite.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22 After these things ^(A)God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to ^(B)the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy^[a] will go over there and worship and come again to you.” ⁶ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(C)laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷ And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, ^(D)“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

⁹ When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and ^(E)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, ^(F)“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for ^(G)now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called the name of that place, ^(H)“The Lord will provide”;^[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”^[c]

¹² Let not ^(A)sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ^13 (B)Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ^(C)present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For ^(D)sin ^(E)will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? ^(F)Are we to sin ^(G)because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves ^(H)to anyone as obedient slaves,^[a] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But ^(I)thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the ^(J)standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, ^(K)having been set free from sin, ^(L)have become slaves of righteousness. ^19 (M)I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For ^(N)just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members ^(O)as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

^20 (P)For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ^21 (Q)But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things ^(R)of which you are now ashamed? ^(S)For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you ^(T)have been set free from sin and ^(U)have become slaves of God, ^(V)the fruit you get leads to sanctification and ^(W)its end, eternal life. ^23 (X)For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

⁷ But ^(A)if we walk in the light, ^(B)as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and ^(C)the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ^8 (D)If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and ^(E)the truth is not in us. ^9 (F)If we confess our sins, he is ^(G)faithful and just to forgive us our sins and ^(H)to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, ^(I)we make him a liar, and ^(J)his word is not in us.

Peter's Sermon at Pentecost

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ¹⁵ For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, ^(A)since it is only the third hour of the day.^{[a] 16} But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, ^(J)a man attested to you by God ^(K)with ^(L)mighty works and wonders and signs that ^(M)God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— ²³ this Jesus,^{[b] (N)}delivered up according to ^(O)the definite plan and ^(P)foreknowledge of God, ^(Q)you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. ^24 (R)God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because ^(S)it was not possible for him to be held by it. ²⁵ For David says concerning him,

²⁹ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about ^(Z)the patriarch David ^(AA)that he both died and ^(AB)was buried, and ^(AC)his tomb is with us to this day. ^30 (AD)Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that ^(AE)God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, ³¹ he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that ^(AF)he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. ³² This Jesus ^(AG)God raised up, ^(AH)and of that we all are witnesses. ^33 (AI)Being therefore ^(AJ)exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from ^(AK)the Father ^(AL)the promise of the Holy Spirit, ^(AM)he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. ³⁴ For ^(AN)David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

³⁶ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that ^(AP)God has made him ^(AQ)both Lord and Christ, this Jesus ^(AR)whom you crucified.”

³⁷ Now when ^(AS)they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, ^(AT)what shall we do?” ³⁸ And Peter said to them, ^(AU)“Repent and ^(AV)be baptized every one of you ^(AW)in the name of Jesus Christ ^(AX)for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive ^(AY)the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For ^(AZ)the promise is for you and ^(BA)for your children and for all ^(BB)who are far off, everyone ^(BC)whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” ⁴⁰ And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ^(BD)“Save yourselves from this ^(BE)crooked generation.” ⁴¹ So those who received his word were baptized, and ^(BF)there were added that day about three thousand souls.