A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.

For the music director. A Psalm of David, when ^[a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.

Spies View the Land

13 Then ^(A)the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “^(B)Send out men for yourself to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” ³ So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the ^[a]command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel.

²¹ So they went up and spied out the land from ^(A)the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, ^[a](B)at Lebo-hamath. ²² When they had gone up into ^(C)the Negev, ^[b]they came to Hebron where ^(D)Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the ^[c]descendants of ^(E)Anak were. (Hebron was built seven years before ^(F)Zoan in Egypt.)

²³ Then they came to the ^[d]Valley of ^[e](G)Eshcol, and from there they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of ^[f]Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut off from there.

The Spies’ Reports

²⁵ When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, ²⁶ they went on and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ^[g]in the wilderness of Paran at ^(H)Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ So they reported to him and said, “We came into the land where you sent us, and ^(I)it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and ^(J)this is its fruit. ²⁸ Nevertheless, ^(K)the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And indeed, we saw ^(L)the ^[h]descendants of Anak there! ²⁹ Amalek is living in the land of ^(M)the Negev, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and ^(N)the Amorites are living in the hill country, and ^(O)the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people ^[i]before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will certainly prevail over it.”

²⁵ For indeed circumcision is of value if you ^(A)practice ^[a]the Law; but if you are a violator ^[b]of the Law, ^(B)your circumcision has turned into uncircumcision. ^26 (C)So if ^(D)the ^[c]uncircumcised man ^(E)keeps the requirements of the Law, will his uncircumcision not be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷ And ^(F)he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not ^(G)judge you who ^[d]though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a violator ^[e]of the Law? ²⁸ For ^(H)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But ^(I)he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and ^(J)circumcision is of the heart, by the ^(K)Spirit, not by the letter; ^(L)and his praise is not from people, but from God.

All the World Guilty

3 Then what ^[f]advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? ² Great in every respect. First, that ^(M)they were entrusted with the ^(N)actual words of God. ³ What then? If ^(O)some ^[g]did not believe, their ^[h]unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? ^4 [i](P)Far from it! Rather, God must prove to be true, though every person be found ^(Q)a liar, as it is written:

⁵ But if our unrighteousness ^[k](S)demonstrates the righteousness of God, ^(T)what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (^(U)I am speaking from a human viewpoint.) ^6 (V)Far from it! For otherwise, how will ^(W)God judge the world? ⁷ But if through my lie ^(X)the truth of God abounded to His glory, ^(Y)why am I also still being judged as a sinner? ⁸ And why not say (just as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “^(Z)Let’s do evil that good may come of it”? ^[l]Their condemnation is deserved.

Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, ^(A)how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to ^(B)seven times?” ²² Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to ^[a](C)seventy-seven times.

²³ “For this reason ^(D)the kingdom of heaven ^[b]is like a king who wanted to ^(E)settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ^[c]ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵ But since he ^[d](F)did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he ^(G)be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell to the ground and ^(H)prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and ^(I)forgave him the ^[e]debt. ²⁸ But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred ^[f]denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’ ²⁹ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ ³⁰ But he was unwilling, ^[g]and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed. ³¹ So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened. ³² Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (J)Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the ^[h]torturers until he would repay all that was owed him. ^35 (K)My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your ^[i]heart.”