Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David wrote this song for the music leader. Use special music.

Trust God for help

God changes Abram's name to Abraham

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. The Lord said, ‘I am God Almighty. In all your life, obey me and do nothing wrong. ² Then I will certainly keep my covenant with you. I will make your descendants grow in number.’^[a]

³ Abram fell down so that his face touched the ground. God said to him, ⁴ ‘As for me, this is my covenant that I have made with you. You will become the ancestor of many nations of people. ⁵ Your name will not be Abram any more. Instead your name will be Abraham, because I will cause you to become the ancestor of many nations. ⁶ I will give you many descendants. These will make many nations of people. Some of your descendants will become kings.

⁷ My covenant with you is very strong. I am making it with you and with your descendants. It will continue for generation after generation of your descendants, for all time. I will be your God. I will also be the God of all your descendants. ⁸ You are now living here in Canaan as a foreign person. But I will give all of this land to you and to your descendants. It will belong to them for ever. I will be their God.’

Circumcision

⁹ God continued to speak to Abraham. He said, ‘As for you, you must agree to obey me. You must obey the rules of my covenant. You, and all your descendants after you must obey it. ¹⁰ This is what you and all your descendants must do to obey my covenant: Every male person in your family must be circumcised. ¹¹ Your circumcision will show that you have agreed to my covenant with you. ¹² Every male child among you must be circumcised when he is eight days old. You must continue to do this for every generation. Do it for every male that lives with you, not just your own family. Circumcise servants that have been born in your house. Also circumcise foreign servants that you have bought with money. ¹³ You must circumcise all the male servants who work for you in your house. Circumcision will be a mark in your bodies which shows that you accept my covenant. It will continue for all time.

Abraham believed God

4 Abraham was the ancestor of all of us who are Jews. Think about what he discovered. ² God did not accept Abraham as right with him because Abraham had done good things. If God had done that, then Abraham would have been able to boast about himself. But he could not boast to God. ³ Remember what the Bible tells us. It says: ‘Abraham believed God. As a result, God accepted Abraham as right with him.’^[a]

⁴ When a person works to get money, it is right for him to receive his money. That money is not a gift. It is what that person ought to receive as a result of his work. ⁵ But someone may believe in God. He does not work to cause God to accept him. God accepts that person because of their faith. God says that people who have turned away from him are right with him, if they trust him. That is God's gift to them. ⁶ David also wrote about the same thing. He describes those people that God has accepted as right with himself. God has not accepted them because they have done good things, but as his gift to them. David tells us how happy people like that are. ⁷ David says:

⁹ God does this for all people, both Jews and Gentiles. All people can be really happy like this, when God accepts them. As we have said, Abraham believed God. As a result, God accepted Abraham as right with him. ¹⁰ They circumcised Abraham to show that he was a Jew. Think about the time when God accepted Abraham. Did it happen before they circumcised him, or after that? We know that it was before they circumcised him! ¹¹ Some time after that, God told Abraham that someone should circumcise him. That would be a mark on his body to show that God had accepted him. God had already accepted Abraham because Abraham believed in him. God did not accept Abraham because they had circumcised him as a Jewish man. This shows that Abraham is like a father to everyone that God has accepted. Like Abraham, God has accepted them because they have believed in him. It is not important that nobody has circumcised them. ¹² But Abraham is also like the father of all Jews who believe in God. Someone has circumcised those Jews, but they have copied Abraham's example. They have believed in God, as Abraham believed before anyone had circumcised him.^[c]