Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Cry for Help
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A psalm of David.
69 God, ·save me [give me victory],
because the water has risen to my neck [C the waters of chaos].
2 I’m sinking down into the ·mud [mire],
and there is nothing to stand on.
I ·am in deep water [have come into the depths of the waters],
and the flood ·covers [overwhelms] me.
3 I am ·tired [exhausted] from calling for help;
my throat is ·sore [dry].
My eyes are ·tired [worn out] from ·waiting [hoping]
for God to help me.
4 There are more people who hate me for no reason than hairs on my head;
·powerful [or many] enemies want to destroy me for no reason.
They make me ·pay back [return]
what I did not steal.
5 God, you know ·what I have done wrong [my foolishness];
I cannot hide my guilt from you.
30 I will praise ·God [L the name of God] in a song
and will ·honor [magnify] him by giving thanks.
31 That will please the Lord more than ·offering him cattle [L an ox],
more than sacrificing a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Poor people will see this and be glad [C offering an ox or bull is expensive].
·Be encouraged, you who worship God [The hearts of those who seek God will be enlivened].
33 The Lord listens to those in need
and does not ·look down on [despise] ·captives [prisoners].
34 Heaven and earth should praise him,
the seas and ·everything in them [L all that swarms in them].
35 God will ·save Jerusalem [L give Zion victory; C the location of the Temple]
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people will live there and own the land.
36 The ·descendants [L seed] of his servants will inherit that land,
and those who love ·him [L his name] will live there.
Proof of the Covenant
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am ·God Almighty [L El Shaddai]. ·Obey [L Walk before] me and ·do what is right [L be innocent/blameless; Job 1:1]. 2 I will make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between ·us [L me and you], and I will make you ·the ancestor of many people [L exceedingly numerous].”
3 Then Abram ·bowed facedown on the ground [L fell on his face]. God said to him, 4 “I am making my ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] with you: I will make you the father of ·many [L a host/multitude of] nations. 5 I am changing your name from Abram [C meaning “exalted father”] to Abraham [C sounds like “father of a multitude” in Hebrew] because I am making you a father of ·many [L a host/multitude of] nations. 6 I will ·give you many descendants [L cause you to be exceedingly fruitful; 1:22]. ·New nations will be born from you [L I will make nations of you], and kings will come from you. 7 And I will make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between me and you and all your ·descendants [L seed] ·from now on [or forever]: I will be your God and the God of all your descendants. 8 You live in the land of Canaan now as a ·stranger [sojourner; wanderer; resident alien], but I will give you and your ·descendants [L seed] all this land ·forever [L as a permanent possesssion]. And I will be the God of your ·descendants [L seed].”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “You and your ·descendants [seed] must ·keep [obey; guard] this ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] ·from now on [L throughout their generations]. 10 This is my ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] with you and all your ·descendants [L seed], which you must ·obey [keep; guard]: Every male among you must be circumcised [C the ritual of membership in the covenant/treaty]. 11 ·Cut away [Circumcise] [L the flesh of] your foreskin ·to show that you are prepared to follow the agreement [L as a sign of the covenant/treaty] between me and you. 12 ·From now on [L Throughout your generations] when a baby boy is eight days old, you will circumcise him. This includes any ·boy born among your people [L house-born slave] or any who is ·your slave [L bought with money from a foreigner], who is not one of your ·descendants [L seed]. 13 Circumcise every baby boy whether he is born in your ·family [L house] or bought ·as a slave [L with money from a foreigner]. ·Your bodies will be marked to show that you are part of my agreement [L …so that my covenant/treaty might be in your flesh as a covenant/treaty] that lasts forever.
The Example of Abraham
4 So what can we say that Abraham, ·the father of our people [L our forefather according to the flesh; Gen. 12—25], ·learned about faith [discovered in this regard; L has found]? 2 If Abraham was ·made right [justified; declared righteous] by ·the things he did [L the works of the law], he had a reason to ·brag [boast]. ·But this is not God’s view [or …but he could not boast before God], 3 because the Scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and ·God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God [L it was credited/counted to him for righteousness; Gen. 15:6].”
4 When people work, their ·pay [wage] is not ·given [credited; counted] as ·a gift [grace], but as something ·earned [due to them]. 5 ·But people cannot do any work that will make them right with God. So they must trust in him [L But for the one who does not work, but trusts in God], who ·makes even evil people right in his sight [justifies/makes righteous the ungodly]. Then God ·accepts their faith, and that makes them right with him [L credits/counts their faith for righteousness]. 6 David said the same thing. He said that people are ·truly blessed [happy; spiritually fulfilled] when God, ·without paying attention to their deeds [apart from works], ·makes people right with himself [L credits/counts righteousness to them].
7 “·Blessed [Happy; Spiritually fulfilled] are they
whose ·sins [lawless deeds] are forgiven,
whose ·wrongs [sins] are ·pardoned [covered; blotted out].
8 ·Blessed [Happy; Spiritually fulfilled] is the person
whom the Lord does not ·consider guilty [L count sin against; Ps. 32:1–2].”
9 Is this ·blessing [happiness; spiritual fulfillment] only for those who are circumcised or also for those who are not circumcised? We have already said that ·God accepted Abraham’s faith and that faith made him right with God [L faith was credited/counted to Abraham for righteousness; v. 3]. 10 So how did this happen? Did God accept Abraham before or after he was circumcised? It was not after, but before his circumcision. 11 Abraham ·was circumcised [L received the sign of circumcision; Gen. 17:9–14] ·to show that he was right with God [L as a seal/guarantee of the righteousness he had] through faith before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all those who believe but are not circumcised, so that ·they too may be accepted as being right with God [righteousness may be credited/counted to them also]. 12 And Abraham is also the father of those who have been circumcised and who ·live following [L walk in the footsteps of] the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
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