Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The God of Sinai and of the Sanctuary.

For the music 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 Then 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 got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and set out 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 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” ⁶ And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and ^(F)laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Look, 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 And Abraham reached out with his hand and took the knife to ^[b]slaughter 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 reach out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now ^(L)I know that you ^[c]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 was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham named that place ^[d]The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord ^(N)it will ^[e]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 somehow 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 Yet it was a concern because of the ^(I)false brothers secretly brought in, who ^(J)had sneaked in to spy on our ^(K)freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to ^(L)enslave us. ⁵ But we did not yield in subjection to them, even for an hour, so that ^(M)the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ⁶ But from those who ^[b]were of considerable ^(N)repute (what they were makes no difference to me; ^(O)God shows no favoritism)—well, those who were of repute contributed nothing to me. ⁷ But on the contrary, seeing that I had been ^(P)entrusted with the ^(Q)gospel ^[c]to the uncircumcised, just as ^(R)Peter had been ^[d]to the circumcised ⁸ (for He who was at work for Peter in his ^(S)apostleship ^[e]to the circumcised was at work for me also to the Gentiles), ⁹ and recognizing ^(T)the grace that had been given to me, ^[f](U)James and ^[g](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.