Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

ו Vav.

17 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am ^[a]God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect. ² And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. ³ And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, ⁴ As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ Neither shall thy name any more be called ^[b]Abram, but thy name shall be ^[c]Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. ⁶ And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. ⁷ And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. ⁸ And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

⁹ And God said unto Abraham, And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt me and you. ¹² And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner that is not of thy seed. ¹³ He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

¹⁵ And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but ^[d]Sarah shall her name be. ¹⁶ And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be of her. ¹⁷ Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? ¹⁸ And Abraham said unto God, Oh that Ishmael might live before thee! ¹⁹ And God said, Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name ^[e]Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

²² And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. ²³ And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him. ²⁴ And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. ²⁷ And all the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money of a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

13 Let love of the brethren continue. ² Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. ³ Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; them that are ill-treated, as being yourselves also in the body. ⁴ Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. ^5 [a]Be ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for himself hath said, ^[b]I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee. ⁶ So that with good courage we say,

⁷ Remember them that had the rule over you, men that spake unto you the word of God; and considering the issue of their ^[d]life, imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea and ^[e]for ever. ⁹ Be not carried away by divers and strange teachings: for it is good that the heart be established by grace; not by meats, wherein they that ^[f]occupied themselves were not profited. ¹⁰ We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat that serve the tabernacle. ¹¹ For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the holy place ^[g]by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned without the camp. ¹² Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered without the gate. ¹³ Let us therefore go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. ¹⁴ For we have not here an abiding city, but we seek after the city which is to come. ¹⁵ Through him ^[h]then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to his name. ¹⁶ But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.