Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
116 I love the Lord because he hears my prayers and answers them. 2 Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!
12 But now what can I offer Jehovah for all he has done for me? 13 I will bring him an offering of wine[a] and praise his name for saving me. 14 I will publicly bring him the sacrifice I vowed I would. 15 His loved ones are very precious to him, and he does not lightly let them die.[b]
16 O Lord, you have freed me from my bonds, and I will serve you forever. 17 I will worship you and offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving. 18-19 Here in the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, before all the people, I will pay everything I vowed to the Lord. Praise the Lord.
21 1-2 Then God did as he had promised, and Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a baby son in his old age, at the time God had said; 3 and Abraham named him Isaac (meaning “Laughter!”). 4-5 Eight days after he was born, Abraham circumcised him, as God required. (Abraham was 100 years old at that time.)
6 And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter! All who hear about this shall rejoice with me. 7 For who would have dreamed that I would ever have a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a child in his old age!”
3 Therefore, dear brothers whom God has set apart for himself—you who are chosen for heaven—I want you to think now about this Jesus who is God’s Messenger and the High Priest of our faith.
2 For Jesus was faithful to God who appointed him High Priest, just as Moses also faithfully served in God’s house. 3 But Jesus has far more glory than Moses, just as a man who builds a fine house gets more praise than his house does. 4 And many people can build houses, but only God made everything.
5 Well, Moses did a fine job working in God’s house, but he was only a servant; and his work was mostly to illustrate and suggest those things that would happen later on. 6 But Christ, God’s faithful Son, is in complete charge of God’s house. And we Christians are God’s house—he lives in us!—if we keep up our courage firm to the end, and our joy and our trust in the Lord.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.