Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
ו Waw
41 Let your faithful love come to me, Lord,(A)
your salvation, as you promised.(B)
42 Then I can answer the one who taunts me,(C)
for I trust in your word.
43 Never take the word of truth from my mouth,
for I hope in your judgments.(D)
44 I will always obey your instruction,
forever and ever.(E)
45 I will walk freely in an open place(F)
because I study your precepts.(G)
46 I will speak of your decrees before kings
and not be ashamed.(H)
47 I delight in your commands,
which I love.(I)
48 I will lift up my hands(J) to your commands,
which I love,
and will meditate on your statutes.(K)
Covenant Circumcision
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty.(A) Live[a] in my presence and be blameless.(B) 2 I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”
3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram;[b] your name will be Abraham,[c] for I will make you the father of many nations.(C) 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. 7 I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant(D) to be your God and the God of your offspring after you.(E) 8 And to you and your future offspring[d](F) I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession,(G) and I will be their God.”
9 God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant. 10 This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised. 11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you.[e](H) 12 Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised(I) at eight days old—every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant. 14 If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah[f] will be her name. 16 I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her.(J) I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed(K) and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable[g] to you!”
19 But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.[h] I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve tribal leaders,(L) and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will confirm my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”(M) 22 When he finished talking with him, God withdrew[i] from Abraham.(N)
23 So Abraham took his son Ishmael and those born in his household or purchased—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. 26 On that very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his household—whether born in his household or purchased from a foreigner—were circumcised with him.
Final Exhortations
13 Let brotherly love(A) continue. 2 Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.(B) 3 Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated,[a] as though you yourselves were suffering bodily.[b] 4 Marriage is to be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.(C) 5 Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.[c](D) 6 Therefore, we may boldly say,
7 Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.(F) 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.(G) 9 Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by food regulations, since those who observe them have not benefited.(H) 10 We have an altar from which those who worship at the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.(I) 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priest(J) as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.(K) 12 Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate,(L) so that he might sanctify[e] the people by his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace.(M) 14 For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.(N) 15 Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.(O) 16 Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.(P)
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