God Himself Is Judge

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

¹⁵ And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;^[a] walk before me, and be ^(A)blameless, ² that I may make my covenant between me and you, and ^(B)may multiply you greatly.” ³ Then Abram ^(C)fell on his face. And God said to him, ⁴ “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be ^(D)the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram,^[b] but ^(E)your name shall be Abraham,^{[c] (F)}for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make ^(G)you into nations, and ^(H)kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will ^(I)establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, ^(J)to be God to you and to your offspring after you. ⁸ And ^(K)I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and ^(L)I will be their God.”

⁹ And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a ^(M)sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² He who is ^(N)eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or ^(O)bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, ¹³ both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Christ's Sacrifice Once for All

10 For since the law has but ^(A)a shadow ^(B)of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, ^(C)it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. ² Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? ³ But ^(D)in these sacrifices ^(E)there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴ For ^(F)it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵ Consequently, ^(G)when Christ^[a] came into the world, he said,

⁸ When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in ^(I)sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), ⁹ then he added, ^(J)“Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will ^(K)we have been sanctified through the offering of ^(L)the body of Jesus Christ ^(M)once for all.

Witnesses to Jesus

^30 (A)“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and ^(B)my judgment is just, because ^(C)I seek not my own will ^(D)but the will of him who sent me. ^31 (E)If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. ³² There is ^(F)another who bears witness about me, and ^(G)I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. ^33 (H)You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴ Not that ^(I)the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was a burning and ^(J)shining lamp, and ^(K)you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶ But ^(L)the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For ^(M)the works that the Father has given me ^(N)to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, ^(O)bear witness about me that ^(P)the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me ^(Q)has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, ^(R)his form you have never seen, ³⁸ and ^(S)you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. ^39 (T)You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and ^(U)it is they that bear witness about me, ⁴⁰ yet ^(V)you refuse to come to me that you may have life. ^41 (W)I do not receive glory from people. ⁴² But ^(X)I know that you do not have ^(Y)the love of God within you. ⁴³ I have come ^(Z)in my Father's name, and ^(AA)you do not receive me. ^(AB)If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and ^(AC)do not seek the glory that comes from ^(AD)the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, ^(AE)on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for ^(AF)he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But ^(AG)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”