Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Love for Israel
105 Give thanks to the Lord and ·pray to him [L call on his name].
·Tell [L Make known among] the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him; ·sing praises [make a psalm] to him.
Tell about all his ·miracles [wonderful acts].
3 ·Be glad that you are his [L Exult/Glory in his holy name];
let ·those [L the heart of those] who seek the Lord ·be happy [rejoice].
4 ·Depend on [Seek] the Lord and his strength;
always ·go to him for help [L seek his face].
5 Remember the ·miracles [wonderful acts] he has done;
remember his ·wonders [signs] and ·his decisions [L the judgments of his mouth].
6 You are ·descendants [L seed] of his servant Abraham [Gen. 12:1–3],
the children of Jacob, his chosen people.
7 He is the Lord our God.
His ·laws [justice; judgments] are for all the world.
8 He will ·keep [L remember] his ·agreement [covenant; treaty] forever;
·he will keep his promises always [L the word which he commanded, for a thousand generations].
9 He will keep the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] he ·made [L cut] with Abraham [Gen. 12:1–3; 17:23]
and the ·promise [oath] he made to Isaac [Gen. 26:3–5].
10 He made it a ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] for the people of Jacob;
he made it an ·agreement [covenant; agreement] with Israel to last forever.
11 The Lord said, “I will give you the land of Canaan [Gen. 15:18],
·and it will belong to you [L as a portion of your inheritance].”
37 Then he brought them out with silver and gold [Ex. 12:35–36].
·Not one of his people stumbled [L There was no stumbling among the tribe].
38 The Egyptians ·were glad [rejoiced] when they left,
because ·the Egyptians were afraid of them [L dread of them fell on them; C because of the plagues].
39 ·The Lord covered them with a cloud [L He spread out a cloud as a covering]
and ·lit up the night with fire [L a fire to illuminate the night; Ex. 13:21–22].
40 When they asked, he brought them quail
and filled them with bread from heaven [Ex. 16].
41 God ·split [L opened] the rock, and water flowed out;
it ran like a river through the ·desert [wasteland; Ex. 17:1–7].
42 He remembered his holy ·promise [word]
to his servant Abraham [Gen. 12:1–3].
43 So God brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
44 He gave them lands of other nations,
so they received ·what others had worked for [L the labors of peoples].
45 This was so they would ·keep [observe; guard] his ·orders [statutes; ordinances; requirements]
and ·obey [protect] his ·teachings [instructions; laws].
Praise the Lord!
God Tests Abraham
22 After these things God tested ·Abraham’s faith [L Abraham]. God said to him, “Abraham!”
And he answered, “Here I am.”
2 Then God said, “Take your ·only [or precious] son, Isaac, the son you love, and go to the land of Moriah [2 Chr. 3:1; C the temple would later be built here]. Offer him as a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
3 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac and two ·servants [or young men] with him. After he cut the wood for the sacrifice, they went to the place God had told them to go. 4 On the third day Abraham ·looked up [L lifted his eyes] and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his ·servants [or young men], “Stay here with the donkey. My son and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the ·sacrifice [L whole burnt offering] and ·gave it to his son to carry [L placed it on his son], but he himself took the knife and the ·fire [or tinder]. So he and his son went on together.
7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!”
Abraham answered, “Yes, my son.”
Isaac said, “We have the ·fire [or tinder] and the wood, but where is the ·lamb [sheep] ·we will burn as a sacrifice [L for the whole burnt offering]?”
8 Abraham answered, “God will ·give us [provide; L see for] the ·lamb [sheep] for the ·sacrifice [whole burnt offering], my son.”
So Abraham and his son went on together 9 and came to the place God had told him about. Abraham built an altar there. He ·laid [arranged] the wood on it and then ·tied up [bound] his son Isaac and laid him on the wood on the altar. 10 Then Abraham [L sent his hand and] took his knife and was about to ·kill [slaughter] his son.
11 But the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord [16:7] called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”
Abraham answered, “Yes.”
12 The angel said, “Don’t ·kill [L send out your hand against] your son or ·hurt [L do anything to] him in any way. Now I can see that you ·trust [L fear] God and that you have not ·kept [withheld] your son, your ·only [or precious] son, from me [Heb. 11:17–19; James 2:21–23].”
13 Then Abraham ·looked up [L lifted his eyes] and saw ·a [or another] ·male sheep [ram] caught in a ·bush [thicket] by its horns. So Abraham went and took the sheep offering it as a whole burnt offering to God, ·and his son was saved [L … in the place of his son]. 14 So Abraham named that place The Lord ·Provides [or Sees; C Hebrew: Yahweh Yireh]. Even today people say, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be ·provided [or seen].”
15 The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord [16:7] called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “The Lord says, ‘Because you did not ·keep back [withhold] your son, your ·only [precious] son, from me, I ·make you this promise by my own name [L swear by myself]: 17 I will surely bless you and ·give you many descendants [L multiply your seed]. They will be as many as the stars in the ·sky [heavens] and the sand on the seashore, and they will ·capture [L possess] the ·cities [L gates] of their enemies. 18 Through your ·descendants [L seed] all the nations on the earth will be blessed, because you ·obeyed [listened to] me [12:1–3].’ ”
19 Then Abraham returned to his ·servants [young men]. They all traveled back to Beersheba, and Abraham ·stayed there [L resided in Beersheba; 21:14].
What Is Faith?
11 Faith means ·being sure [the assurance; or the tangible reality; or the sure foundation] of the things we hope for and ·knowing that something is real even if we do not see it [the conviction/assurance/evidence about things not seen]. 2 Faith is the reason ·we remember [or God commended/approved] ·great people who lived in the past [the people of old; the ancients; our spiritual ancestors].
3 It is by faith we understand that the ·whole world [universe; cosmos; ages] was made by God’s ·command [word; Gen. 1] so what we see was ·made by something that cannot be seen [L not made from/by visible things].
13 All these great people died in faith. They did not ·get [receive] the things that God promised his people, but they saw them ·coming far in the future [L from afar] and ·were glad [welcomed/greeted them]. They ·said [acknowledged/recognized that] they were like ·strangers [foreigners] and ·visitors [sojourners; refugees; resident aliens] on earth. 14 When people say such things, they show they are looking for a ·country that will be their own [homeland]. 15 If they had been thinking about the country they had left, they ·could have gone back [L would have had an opportunity to return]. 16 But [as it is; L now] they were ·waiting [desiring; longing] for a better country—a heavenly one. So God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.
17 It was by faith that Abraham, when God tested him, offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice [Gen. 22:1–10]. ·God made the promises to Abraham, but Abraham [L The one who received the promises] was ready to offer his ·own [unique; one of a kind; John 3:16] son as a sacrifice. 18 God had said, “·The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac [Through Isaac your offspring/seed will carry on your name; Gen. 21:12].” 19 Abraham ·believed [considered; reasoned] that God ·could [had the power to] raise the dead, and ·really [in one sense; in a manner of speaking; figuratively speaking], it was as if Abraham ·got [received] Isaac back from death.
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