Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;^[a] walk before me, and be ^(A)blameless, ² that I may make my covenant between me and you, and ^(B)may multiply you greatly.” ³ Then Abram ^(C)fell on his face. And God said to him, ⁴ “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be ^(D)the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram,^[b] but ^(E)your name shall be Abraham,^{[c] (F)}for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make ^(G)you into nations, and ^(H)kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will ^(I)establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, ^(J)to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

Isaac's Birth Promised

¹⁵ And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah^[a] shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover, I will ^(A)give^[b] you a son by her. I will bless her, and ^(B)she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

The Promise Realized Through Faith

¹³ For ^(A)the promise to Abraham and his offspring ^(B)that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ^14 (C)For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For ^(D)the law brings wrath, but ^(E)where there is no law ^(F)there is no transgression.

¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, ^(G)in order that the promise may rest on grace and ^(H)be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, ^(I)who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ as it is written, ^(J)“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, ^(K)who gives life to the dead and calls into existence ^(L)the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ^(M)“So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was ^(N)as good as dead (^(O)since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered ^(P)the barrenness of Sarah's womb. ²⁰ No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ fully convinced that ^(Q)God was able to do what he had promised. ²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness”. ²³ But ^(R)the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us ^(S)who believe in ^(T)him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ^25 (U)who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised ^(V)for our justification.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

^31 (A)And he began to teach them that ^(B)the Son of Man must ^(C)suffer many things and ^(D)be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and ^(E)after three days rise again. ³² And he said this ^(F)plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ^(G)“Get behind me, Satan! For you ^(H)are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

³⁴ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^(I)deny himself and ^(J)take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For ^(K)whoever would save his life^[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake ^(L)and the gospel's will save it. ^36 (M)For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For ^(N)what can a man give in return for his soul? ³⁸ For ^(O)whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this ^(P)adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed ^(Q)when he comes in the glory of his Father with ^(R)the holy angels.”

The Transfiguration

^2 (A)And after six days Jesus took with him ^(B)Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was ^(C)transfigured before them, ³ and ^(D)his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one^[a] on earth could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ And Peter said to Jesus, ^(E)“Rabbi,^[b] it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^(F)tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For ^(G)he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷ And ^(H)a cloud overshadowed them, and ^(I)a voice came out of the cloud, ^(J)“This is my beloved Son;^{[c] (K)}listen to him.” ⁸ And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

^9 (L)And as they were coming down the mountain, ^(M)he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, ^(N)until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.