Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

The Blood of the Covenant

24 The Lord said to Moses, “You and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel must come to worship the Lord. Do not come close when you worship. ² Only Moses can come close to me. The others must not come near. And the people may not go up with him.”

³ Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws. They answered with one voice. They said, “We will do everything the Lord has told us to do.” ⁴ Then Moses wrote down everything the Lord had said.

Moses got up early the next morning. He built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He set up 12 stone pillars. They stood for the 12 tribes of Israel. ⁵ Then he sent young Israelite men to sacrifice burnt offerings. They also sacrificed young bulls as friendship offerings to the Lord. ⁶ Moses put half of the blood in bowls. He splashed the other half against the altar. ⁷ Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They answered, “We will do everything the Lord has told us to do. We will obey him.”

⁸ Then Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people. He said, “This is the blood that puts the covenant into effect. The Lord has made this covenant with you in keeping with all these words.”

The Jews and the Law

¹⁷ Suppose you call yourself a Jew. You trust in the law. You brag that you know God. ¹⁸ You know what God wants. You agree with what is best because the law teaches you. ¹⁹ You think you know so much more than the people you teach. You think you’re helping blind people. You think you are a light for those in the dark. ²⁰ You think you can make foolish people wise. You act like you’re teaching little children. You think that the law gives you all knowledge and truth. ²¹ You claim to teach others, but you don’t even teach yourself! You preach against stealing. But you steal! ²² You say that people should not commit adultery. But you commit adultery! You hate statues of gods. But you rob temples! ²³ You brag about the law. But when you break it, you rob God of his honor! ²⁴ It is written, “The Gentiles say evil things against God’s name because of you.” (Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:22)

²⁵ Circumcision has value if you obey the law. But if you break the law, it is just as if you hadn’t been circumcised. ²⁶ And sometimes those who aren’t circumcised do what the law requires. Won’t God accept them as if they had been circumcised? ²⁷ Many are not circumcised physically, but they obey the law. They will prove that you are guilty. You are breaking the law, even though you have the written law and are circumcised.

²⁸ A person is not a Jew if they are a Jew only on the outside. And circumcision is more than just something done to the outside of a man’s body. ²⁹ No, a person is a Jew only if they are a Jew on the inside. And true circumcision means that the heart has been circumcised by the Holy Spirit. The person whose heart has been circumcised does more than obey the written law. The praise that matters for that kind of person does not come from other people. It comes from God.