Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Tests Abraham
22 Later Elohim tested Abraham and called to him, “Abraham!”
“Yes, here I am!” he answered.
2 Elohim said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place that Elohim had told him about. 4 Two days later Abraham saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go over there. We’ll worship. After that we’ll come back to you.”
6 Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to his son Isaac. Abraham carried the burning coals and the knife. The two of them went on together.
7 Isaac spoke up and said, “Father?”
“Yes, Son?” Abraham answered.
Isaac asked, “We have the burning coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “Elohim will provide a lamb for the burnt offering, Son.”
The two of them went on together. 9 When they came to the place that Elohim had told him about, Abraham built the altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied up his son Isaac and laid him on top of the wood on the altar. 10 Next, Abraham picked up the knife and took it in his hand to sacrifice his son. 11 But the Messenger of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes?” he answered.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear Elohim, because you did not refuse to give me your son, your only son.”
13 When Abraham looked around, he saw a ram behind him caught by its horns in a bush. So Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named that place Yahweh Yireh. It is still said today, “On the mountain of Yahweh it will be provided.”
Psalm 13
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 How long, O Yahweh? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I make decisions alone
with sorrow in my heart day after day?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look at me! Answer me, O Yahweh my Elohim!
Light up my eyes,
or else I will die
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overpowered him.”
My opponents will rejoice because I have been shaken.
5 But I trust your mercy.
My heart finds joy in your salvation.
6 I will sing to Yahweh because he has been good to me.
12 Therefore, never let sin rule your physical body so that you obey its desires. 13 Never offer any part of your body to sin’s power. No part of your body should ever be used to do any ungodly thing. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have come back from death and are now alive. Offer all the parts of your body to God. Use them to do everything that God approves of. 14 Certainly, sin shouldn’t have power over you because you’re not controlled by God’s laws, but by God’s favor.[a]
15 Then what is the implication? Should we sin because we are not controlled by God’s laws but by God’s favor? That’s unthinkable! 16 Don’t you know that if you offer to be someone’s slave, you must obey that master? Either your master is sin, or your master is obedience. Letting sin be your master leads to death. Letting obedience be your master leads to God’s approval. 17 You were slaves to sin. But I thank God that you have become wholeheartedly obedient to the teachings which you were given. 18 Freed from sin, you were made slaves who do what God approves of.
19 I’m speaking in a human way because of the weakness of your corrupt nature. Clearly, you once offered all the parts of your body as slaves to sexual perversion and disobedience. This led you to live disobedient lives. Now, in the same way, offer all the parts of your body as slaves that do what God approves of. This leads you to live holy lives. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from doing what God approves of.
21 What did you gain by doing those things? You’re ashamed of what you used to do because it ended in death. 22 Now you have been freed from sin and have become God’s slaves. This results in a holy life and, finally, in everlasting life. 23 The payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Yeshua our Lord.
40 “The person who welcomes you welcomes me, and the person who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 The person who welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. The person who welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 I can guarantee this truth: Whoever gives any of my humble followers a cup of cold water because that person is my disciple will certainly never lose his reward.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.