Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The God of Sinai and of the Sanctuary.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song.

The Offering of Isaac

22 Now it came about after these things, that ^(A)God tested Abraham, and said to him, “^(B)Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take now ^(C)your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of ^(D)Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(E)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. ⁵ Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(F)laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^(G)lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God will ^[a]provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

⁹ Then they came to ^(H)the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built ^(I)the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and ^(J)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But ^(K)the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now ^(L)I know that you ^[b]fear God, since you have not withheld ^(M)your son, your only son, from Me.” ¹³ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. ¹⁴ Abraham called the name of that place ^[c]The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord ^(N)it will ^[d]be provided.”

The Council at Jerusalem

2 Then after an interval of fourteen years I ^(A)went up again to Jerusalem with ^(B)Barnabas, taking ^(C)Titus along also. ^2 [a]It was because of a ^(D)revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the ^(E)gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be ^(F)running, or had run, in vain. ³ But not even ^(G)Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was ^(H)compelled to be circumcised. ⁴ But it was because of the ^(I)false brethren secretly brought in, who ^(J)had sneaked in to spy out our ^(K)liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to ^(L)bring us into bondage. ⁵ But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that ^(M)the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ⁶ But from those who ^[b]were of high ^(N)reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; ^(O)God ^[c]shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. ⁷ But on the contrary, seeing that I had been ^(P)entrusted with the ^(Q)gospel ^[d]to the uncircumcised, just as ^(R)Peter had been ^[e]to the circumcised ⁸ (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his ^(S)apostleship ^[f]to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), ⁹ and recognizing ^(T)the grace that had been given to me, ^[g](U)James and ^(V)Cephas and John, who were ^(W)reputed to be ^(X)pillars, gave to me and ^(Y)Barnabas the ^(Z)right ^[h]hand of fellowship, so that we might ^(AA)go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They only asked us to remember the poor—^(AB)the very thing I also was eager to do.