Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

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.”

Prayer for Help in Trouble.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹² Therefore do not let sin ^(A)reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, ¹³ and do not go on ^(B)presenting ^[a]the members of your body to sin as ^[b]instruments of unrighteousness; but ^(C)present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as ^[c]instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴ For ^(D)sin shall not ^(E)be master over you, for ^(F)you are not under law but ^(G)under grace.

¹⁵ What then? ^(H)Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? ^(I)May it never be! ¹⁶ Do you not ^(J)know that when you present yourselves to someone as ^(K)slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of ^(L)sin ^[d]resulting in death, or of obedience ^[e]resulting in righteousness? ¹⁷ But ^(M)thanks be to God that ^[f]though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that ^(N)form of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and having been ^(O)freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ^19 (P)I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just ^(Q)as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, ^[g]resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, ^[h]resulting in sanctification.

²⁰ For ^(R)when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ Therefore what ^[i](S)benefit were you then ^[j]deriving ^[k]from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is ^(T)death. ²² But now having been ^(U)freed from sin and ^(V)enslaved to God, you ^[l]derive your ^[m](W)benefit, ^[n]resulting in sanctification, and ^(X)the outcome, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of ^(Y)sin is death, but the free gift of God is ^(Z)eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Reward of Service

⁴⁰ “^(A)He who receives you receives Me, and ^(B)he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. ^41 (C)He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴² And ^(D)whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these ^[a]little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”