Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.

A Song of Ascents, of David.

Israel Invoked to Praise the Lord.

Birth of Isaac Promised

18 Now ^(A)the Lord appeared to ^[a]Abraham by the ^[b](B)oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. ² When he raised his eyes and looked, behold, three ^(C)men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground, ³ and said, “^[c]My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not ^[d]pass Your servant by. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought and ^(D)wash ^[e]your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree; ⁵ and I will ^[f](E)bring a piece of bread, so that you may ^[g]refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have ^[h]visited your servant.” And they said, “So do as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “^[i]Quickly, prepare three ^[j]measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.” ⁷ Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and ^[k]choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree ^[l]as they ate.

⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰ He said, “^(F)I will certainly return to you ^[m]at this time next year; and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹ Now ^(G)Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was ^(H)past ^[n]childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed ^[o]to herself, saying, “^(I)After I have become old, am I to have pleasure, my ^(J)lord being old also?” ¹³ But the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I actually give birth to a child, when I am so old?’ ^14 (K)Is anything too ^[p]difficult for the Lord? At the ^(L)appointed time I will return to you, ^[q]at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁵ Sarah denied it, however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

¹⁶ Then ^(M)the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off.

Christ or Judgment

²⁶ For if we go on ^(A)sinning willfully after receiving ^(B)the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a terrifying expectation of ^(C)judgment and ^(D)the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. ^28 (E)Anyone who has ignored the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ^29 (F)How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve ^(G)who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean ^(H)the blood of the covenant ^(I)by which he was sanctified, and has ^(J)insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know Him who said, “^(K)Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “^(L)The Lord will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a ^(M)terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the ^(N)living God.

³² But remember ^(O)the former days, ^[a]when, after being ^(P)enlightened, you endured a great ^(Q)conflict of sufferings, ³³ partly by being ^(R)made a public spectacle through insults and distress, and partly by becoming ^[b](S)companions with those who were so treated. ³⁴ For you ^(T)showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted ^(U)joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves ^(V)a better and lasting possession. ³⁵ Therefore, do not throw away your ^(W)confidence, which has a great ^(X)reward. ³⁶ For you have need of ^(Y)endurance, so that when you have ^(Z)done the will of God, you may ^(AA)receive ^[c]what was promised.

³⁹ But ^[d]we are not among those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith for the safekeeping of the soul.

¹⁶ Now when evening came, His ^(A)disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷ and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea ^(B)to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸ In addition, the sea began getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹ Then, when they had rowed about ^[a]twenty-five or thirty stadia, they *saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat; and they were frightened. ²⁰ But He *said to them, “It is I; ^[b](C)do not be afraid.” ²¹ So they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

²² The next day ^(D)the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there except one, and that Jesus ^(E)had not gotten into the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had departed alone. ²³ Other small boats came from ^(F)Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the ^(G)Lord ^(H)had given thanks. ²⁴ So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and ^(I)came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. ²⁵ And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “^(J)Rabbi, when did You get here?”

Words to the People

²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you ^(K)seek Me, not because you saw ^[c](L)signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not ^(M)work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for ^(N)eternal life, which ^(O)the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, ^(P)has set His ^[d]seal.”