Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the director: To the tune “The Lilies.” A song of David.

Circumcision—Proof of the Agreement

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am God All-Powerful.^[a] Obey me and live the right way. ² If you do this, I will prepare an agreement between us. I will promise to make your people a great nation.”

³ Then Abram bowed down before God. God said to him, ⁴ “This is my part of our agreement: I will make you the father of many nations. ⁵ I will change your name from Abram^[b] to Abraham,^[c] because I am making you the father of many nations. ⁶ I will give you many descendants. New nations and kings will come from you. ⁷ And I will prepare an agreement between me and you. This agreement will also be for all your descendants. It will continue forever. I will be your God and the God of all your descendants. ⁸ And I will give this land to you and to all your descendants. I will give you the land you are traveling through—the land of Canaan. I will give you this land forever, and I will be your God.”

⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “Now, this is your part of the agreement: You and all your descendants will obey my agreement. ¹⁰ This is my agreement that all of you must obey. This is the agreement between me and you and all your descendants. Every male must be circumcised. ¹¹ You will cut the skin to show that you follow the agreement between me and you. ¹² When the baby boy is eight days old, you will circumcise him. Every boy born among your people and every boy who is a slave of your people must be circumcised. ¹³ So every baby boy in your nation will be circumcised. Every boy who is born from your family or bought as a slave will be circumcised.

The Example of Abraham

4 So what can we say about Abraham, the father of our people? What did he learn about faith? ² If Abraham was made right by the things he did, he had a reason to boast about himself. But God knew different. ³ That’s why the Scriptures say, “Abraham believed God, and because of this he was accepted as one who is right with God.”^[a]

⁴ When people work, their pay is not given to them as a gift. They earn the pay they get. ⁵ But people cannot do any work that will make them right with God. So they must trust in him. Then he accepts their faith, and that makes them right with him. He is the one who makes even evil people right. ⁶ David said the same thing when he was talking about the blessing people have when God accepts them as good without looking at what they have done:

⁹ Is this blessing only for those who are circumcised? Or is it also for those who are not circumcised? We have already said that it was because of Abraham’s faith that he was accepted as one who is right with God. ¹⁰ So how did this happen? Did God accept Abraham before or after he was circumcised? God accepted him before his circumcision. ¹¹ Abraham was circumcised later to show that God accepted him. His circumcision was proof that he was right with God through faith before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all those who believe but are not circumcised. They believe and are accepted as people who are right with God. ¹² And Abraham is also the father of those who have been circumcised. But it is not their circumcision that makes him their father. He is their father only if they live following the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.