Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
41 Let Your mercy and loving-kindness come also to me, O Lord, even Your salvation according to Your promise;
42 Then shall I have an answer for those who taunt and reproach me, for I lean on, rely on, and trust in Your word.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I hope in Your ordinances.
44 I will keep Your law continually, forever and ever [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it].
45 And I will walk at liberty and at ease, for I have sought and inquired for [and desperately required] Your precepts.
46 I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings and will not be put to shame.(A)
47 For I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love.
48 My hands also will I lift up [in fervent supplication] to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes.
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the Almighty God; walk and live habitually before Me and be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete).
2 And I will make My covenant (solemn pledge) between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.
3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God said to him,
4 As for Me, behold, My covenant (solemn pledge) is with you, and you shall be the father of many nations.
5 Nor shall your name any longer be Abram [high, exalted father]; but your name shall be Abraham [father of a multitude], for I have made you the father of many nations.
6 And I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of you, and [a]kings will come from you.
7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting, solemn pledge, to be a God to you and to your posterity after you.(A)
8 And I will give to you and to your posterity after you the land in which you are a stranger [going from place to place], all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.(B)
9 And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall therefore keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
10 This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your posterity after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token or sign of the covenant (the promise or pledge) between Me and you.
12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male throughout your generations, whether born in [your] house or bought with [your] money from any foreigner not of your offspring.
13 He that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money must be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 And the male who is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.
15 And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai; but Sarah [Princess] her name shall be.
16 And I will bless her and give you a son also by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a son?
18 And [he] said to God, Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!
19 But God said, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall call his name Isaac [laughter]; and I will establish My covenant or solemn pledge with him for an everlasting covenant and with his posterity after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard and heeded you: behold, I will bless him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly; He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. [Fulfilled in Gen. 25:12-18.]
21 But My covenant, My promise and pledge, I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.
22 And God stopped talking with him and went up from Abraham.
23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among [those] of Abraham’s house, and circumcised [them] the very same day, as God had said to him.
24 And Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised.
25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised.
26 On the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son as well.
27 And all the men of his house, both those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised along with him.
13 Let love for your fellow believers continue and be a fixed practice with you [never let it fail].
2 Do not forget or neglect or refuse to extend hospitality to strangers [in the brotherhood—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for through it some have entertained angels without knowing it.(A)
3 Remember those who are in prison as if you were their fellow prisoner, and those who are ill-treated, since you also are liable to bodily sufferings.
4 Let marriage be held in honor (esteemed worthy, precious, of great price, and especially dear) in all things. And thus let the marriage bed be undefiled (kept undishonored); for God will judge and punish the unchaste [all guilty of sexual vice] and adulterous.
5 Let your [a]character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] [b]Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor [c]give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [d][I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor [e]let [you] down ([f]relax My hold on you)! [[g]Assuredly not!](B)
6 So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?(C)
7 Remember your leaders and superiors in authority [for it was they] who brought to you the Word of God. Observe attentively and consider their manner of living (the outcome of their well-spent lives) and imitate their faith ([h]their conviction that God exists and is the Creator and Ruler of all things, the Provider and Bestower of eternal salvation through Christ, and their [i]leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness).
8 Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages).
9 Do not be carried about by different and varied and alien teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established and ennobled and strengthened by means of grace (God’s favor and spiritual blessing) and not [to be devoted to] foods [rules of diet and ritualistic meals], which bring no [spiritual] benefit or profit to those who observe them.
10 We have an altar from which those who serve and [j]worship in the tabernacle have no right to eat.
11 For when the blood of animals is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin, the victims’ bodies are burned outside the limits of the camp.(D)
12 Therefore Jesus also suffered and died outside the [city’s] gate in order that He might purify and consecrate the people through [the shedding of] His own blood and set them apart as holy [for God].
13 Let us then go forth [from all that would prevent us] to Him outside the camp [at Calvary], bearing the contempt and abuse and shame with Him.(E)
14 For here we have no permanent city, but we are looking for the one which is to come.
15 Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.(F)
16 Do not forget or neglect to do kindness and good, to be generous and distribute and contribute to the needy [of the church [k]as embodiment and proof of fellowship], for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation