Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
23 You who fear the Lord, give Him praise. All you children of Jacob, honor Him. Fear Him, all you children of Israel. 24 For He has not turned away from the suffering of the one in pain or trouble. He has not hidden His face from him. But He has heard his cry for help.
25 My praise will be from You in the big meeting of worship. I will keep my promises to Him in front of those who fear Him. 26 Those who suffer will eat and have enough. Those who look for the Lord will praise Him. May your heart live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will worship before Him. 28 For the holy nation is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations. 29 All the proud ones of the earth will eat and worship. All who go down to the dust will fall to their knees before Him, even he who cannot keep his soul alive. 30 Future children will serve Him. They will tell of the Lord to their children. 31 They will come and tell about His saving power to a people yet to be born. For He has done it.
God’s Agreement with Abram
15 After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a special dream, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your safe place. Your reward will be very great.” 2 Then Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me? For I have no child. And the one who is to receive what belongs to me is Eliezer of Damascus.” 3 Abram said, “Because You have not given me a child, one born in my house will be given all I have.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be given what is yours. But he who will come from your own body will be given what is yours.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Now look up into the heavens and add up the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then He said to him, “Your children and your children’s children will be as many as the stars.” 6 Then Abram believed in the Lord, and that made him right with God.
12 When the sun was going down, Abram went into a sleep as if he were dead. And much fear and darkness came upon him. 13 God said to Abram, “Know for sure that your children and those born after them will be strangers in a land that is not theirs. There they will be servants and suffer for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation they will serve. And later they will come out with many riches. 15 You will live many years, die in peace and be buried. 16 Then your great great-grandchildren will return here. For the sins of the Amorite are not yet finished.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was very dark, a fire pot of smoke and a burning fire passed between these parts of animals. 18 The Lord made an agreement with Abram on that day. He said, “I have given this land to your children and to their children’s children, from the river of Egypt as far as the big Euphrates River,
21 But now God has made another way to make men right with Himself. It is not by the Law. The Law and the early preachers tell about it. 22 Men become right with God by putting their trust in Jesus Christ. God will accept men if they come this way. All men are the same to God. 23 For all men have sinned and have missed the shining-greatness of God. 24 Anyone can be made right with God by the free gift of His loving-favor. It is Jesus Christ Who bought them with His blood and made them free from their sins. 25 God gave Jesus Christ to the world. Men’s sins can be forgiven through the blood of Christ when they put their trust in Him. God gave His Son Jesus Christ to show how right He is. Before this, God did not look on the sins that were done. 26 But now God proves that He is right in saving men from sin. He shows that He is the One Who has no sin. God makes anyone right with Himself who puts his trust in Jesus.
27 What then do we have to be proud of? Nothing at all! Why? Is it because men obey the Law? No! It is because men put their trust in Christ. 28 This is what we have come to know. A man is made right with God by putting his trust in Christ. It is not by his doing what the Law says. 29 Is God the God of the Jews only? Is He not the God of the people who are not Jews also? He is for sure. 30 He is one God. He will make Jews and the people who are not Jews right with Himself if they put their trust in Christ. 31 Does this mean that we do away with the Law when we put our trust in Christ? No, not at all. It means we know the Law is important.
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