Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Prayer for Understanding

6 ^(A)The Lord gave the following regulations to Moses. ² An offering is to be made if any of you sin against the Lord by refusing to return what another Israelite has left as a deposit or by stealing something from him or by cheating him ³ or by lying about something that has been lost and swearing that you did not find it. ^4-5 When you sin in any of these ways, you must repay whatever you got by dishonest means. On the day you are found guilty, you must repay the owner in full, plus an additional 20 percent. ⁶ You shall bring to the priest as your repayment offering to the Lord a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. ⁷ The priest shall offer the sacrifice for your sin, and you will be forgiven.

² Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, it means that Christ is of no use to you at all. ³ Once more I warn any man who allows himself to be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the whole Law. ⁴ Those of you who try to be put right with God by obeying the Law have cut yourselves off from Christ. You are outside God's grace. ⁵ As for us, our hope is that God will put us right with him; and this is what we wait for by the power of God's Spirit working through our faith. ⁶ For when we are in union with Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor the lack of it makes any difference at all; what matters is faith that works through love.