The Covenant of Circumcision

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

⁶ I will make you very fruitful;^(A) I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.^{(B) 7} I will establish my covenant^(C) as an everlasting covenant^(D) between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God^(E) and the God of your descendants after you.^{(F) 8} The whole land of Canaan,^(G) where you now reside as a foreigner,^(H) I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;^(I) and I will be their God.^(J)”

¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai^(A) your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.^{(B) 16} I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.^(C) I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations;^(D) kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown;^(E) he laughed^(F) and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?^(G) Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”^{(H) 18} And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael^(I) might live under your blessing!”^(J)

¹⁹ Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,^(K) and you will call him Isaac.^[a](L) I will establish my covenant with him^(M) as an everlasting covenant^(N) for his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.^(O) He will be the father of twelve rulers,^(P) and I will make him into a great nation.^{(Q) 21} But my covenant^(R) I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you^(S) by this time next year.”^(T)

Jacob Wrestles With God

²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons^(A) and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.^{(B) 23} After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.^{(C) 24} So Jacob was left alone,^(D) and a man^(E) wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip^(F) so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”^(G)

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,”^(H) he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name^(I) will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,^[a](J) because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”^(K)

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”^(L)

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?”^(M) Then he blessed^(N) him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel,^[b] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face,^(O) and yet my life was spared.”

³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,^[c](P) and he was limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip,^(Q) because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

⁴⁴ “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law^(A) with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.^{(B) 45} After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them.^(C) It remained in the land until the time of David,^{(D) 46} who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.^{[a](E) 47} But it was Solomon who built a house for him.^(F)

⁴⁸ “However, the Most High^(G) does not live in houses made by human hands.^(H) As the prophet says:

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people!^(K) Your hearts^(L) and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?^(M) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him^(N)— ⁵³ you who have received the law that was given through angels^(O) but have not obeyed it.”

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,^(A)

To God’s elect,^(B) exiles^(C) scattered^(D) throughout the provinces of Pontus,^(E) Galatia,^(F) Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,^{(G) 2} who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge^(H) of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit,^(I) to be obedient^(J) to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:^(K)

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.^(L)

Praise to God for a Living Hope

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!^(M) In his great mercy^(N) he has given us new birth^(O) into a living hope^(P) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,^{(Q) 4} and into an inheritance^(R) that can never perish, spoil or fade.^(S) This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,^{(T) 5} who through faith are shielded by God’s power^(U) until the coming of the salvation^(V) that is ready to be revealed^(W) in the last time.