Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
23 Praise the Lord, all you who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7].
All you ·descendants [seed] of Jacob [C Israelites], ·honor [glorify] him;
·fear [revere] him, all you Israelites.
24 He does not ·ignore [despise or disdain] ·those in trouble [L the suffering of the afflicted].
He doesn’t hide his face from them
but listens when they ·call out to him [cry to him for help].
25 Lord, ·I praise you [L from you comes my praise] in the great ·meeting of your people [assembly];
these ·worshipers [L who fear him] will see me ·do what I promised [L fulfill my vows].
26 ·Poor [or Afflicted] people will eat ·until they are full [and be satisfied];
those who ·look to the Lord [L seek him] will praise him.
May your hearts live forever!
27 ·People everywhere [L All the ends of the earth] will remember
and will turn to the Lord.
All the families of the nations
will worship him
28 because ·the Lord is King [rule belongs to the Lord],
and he rules the nations.
29 All the ·powerful people [L fat ones] on earth will eat and worship.
Everyone will ·bow down to [kneel before] him,
all who will ·one day die [L go down to the dust and cannot keep themselves alive].
30 The ·people in the future [posterity; seed] will serve him;
they will always be told about the Lord.
31 They will ·tell that he does what is right [recount his righteousness].
People who are not yet born
will hear what God has done.
God’s Covenant with Abram
15 After these things happened, the Lord spoke his word to Abram in a vision: “Abram, don’t be afraid. I will ·defend [L be a shield to] you, and ·I will give you a great reward [L your reward will be great].”
2 But Abram said, “Lord God [C Hebrew Adonai Yahweh; combination of covenant name YHWH (2:4) with common Hebrew word for “sir,” “lord,” or “master”], what can you give me? I ·have no son [am childless], so my ·slave [servant] Eliezer from Damascus [C a major city in Syria] will ·get everything I own after I die [be my heir; C a household servant would take care of a childless couple in their old age and in turn inherit their possessions].” 3 Abram said, “Look, you have given me no son, so a slave born in my house will ·inherit everything I have [be my heir].”
4 Then the Lord spoke his word to Abram: “He will not be the one to inherit what you have. You will have a son of your own who will inherit what you have.”
5 Then God led Abram outside and said, “Look at the ·sky [heavens]. There are so many stars you cannot count them. Your ·descendants [L seed] also will be too many to count.”
6 Abram ·believed [put his trust/faith in] the Lord. And the Lord ·accepted Abram’s faith, and that faith made him right with God [T counted/credited it as righteousness; Rom. 4:3, 9, 22; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23].
12 As the sun was ·going down [setting], Abram fell into a deep sleep. While he was asleep, a very ·terrible [or frightening] darkness came. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your ·descendants [L seed] will be ·strangers [sojourners; wanderers; resident aliens] in a land they don’t own. The people there will make them slaves and ·be cruel to [oppress] them for four hundred years. 14 But I will ·punish [judge] the nation ·where they are slaves [L which they serve]. Then your ·descendants [L seed] will leave that land, taking great ·wealth [possessions] with them. 15 And you, Abram, will ·die [L go to your fathers/ancestors] in peace and will be buried at an old age. 16 ·After your great-great-grandchildren are born [L After the fourth generation], ·your people [L they] will come ·to this land [L here] again. It will take that long, because ·I am not yet going to punish the Amorites for their evil behavior [T the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete; C Amorites is one name for the pre-Israelite inhabitants of Canaan].”
17 After the sun went down, it was very dark. Suddenly a smoking firepot and a blazing torch [C fire and smoke often represent God] passed between the ·halves of the dead animals [L pieces; C a self-curse ritual; by passing between the pieces of the sacrifice, one vowed to keep an agreement or suffer the same fate as the animals]. 18 So on that day the Lord ·made an agreement [L cut a covenant/treaty; 6:18] with Abram and said, “I will give to your ·descendants [L seed] the land between the river of Egypt and the great river Euphrates.
How God Makes People Right
21 But now ·God’s way to make people right with him [L the righteousness of God] ·without [apart from] the law has been ·shown to us [revealed; made known], a way ·told to us [testified to; attested] by the law and the prophets. 22 ·God makes people right with himself [L This righteousness comes] through ·their faith in [or the faithfulness of] Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because ·all people are the same [there is no distinction/difference; C between Jews and Gentiles]: 23 [L For; Because] Everyone has sinned and ·fallen short [or is not worthy] of God’s ·glorious standard [or glorious presence; L glory], 24 and all need to be ·made right with God [justfied; declared righteous] as a free gift by his grace, ·by being set free from sin [L through the redemption that is] ·through [or in] Jesus Christ. 25 God ·sent [or appointed; or presented] him ·to die in our place to take away our sins [as a sacrifice of atonement; or as the mercy seat; T as a propitiation; C the Greek term could mean the place where sacrificial blood was dripped (the mercy seat) or the sacrifice itself; it implies an atoning sacrifice that turns away divine wrath]. We receive forgiveness through faith in ·the blood of Jesus’ death [L his blood]. This showed ·that God always does what is right and fair [L his righteousness], as in the past when he was patient and ·did not punish people for their sins [L passed over/delayed punishment for previously committed sins]. 26 And God gave Jesus to show ·today [or at this present time (of salvation)] ·that he does what is right [L his righteousness/justice]. God did this so he could ·judge rightly [or be shown to be just/righteous] and so he could ·make right [declare righteous; justify] any person ·who has faith in Jesus [or on the basis of Jesus’ faithfulness; see v. 22]. [C Christ’s sacrificial death shows that God is both just (sin is justly punished) and merciful (God saves undeserving sinners).]
27 ·So do we have a reason to brag about ourselves? No! [L Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded.] ·And why not [L By what law/principle]? It is the ·way [law; principle] of faith that stops all ·bragging [boasting], not the ·way [law; principle] of ·trying to obey the law [L works]. 28 For we ·conclude [maintain; assert] a person is ·made right with God [justified; declared righteous] through faith, not through ·obeying [L the works of] the law. 29 [L Or] Is God only the God of the Jews? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? 30 Of course he is, because ·there is only one God [or God is one; Deut. 6:4]. He will ·make Jews right with him [L justify/make righteous the circumcised] by their faith, and he will also ·make Gentiles right with him [L justify/declare righteous the uncircumcised] through their faith. 31 So do we ·destroy [nullify; annul] the law by ·following the way of faith [L faith]? ·No [Absolutely not; May it never be; v. 6]! ·Faith causes us to be what the law truly wants [L We uphold/establish/support the law; C living by faith captures the true spirit and purpose of the law; the law pointed out sin and the need for grace, thereby pointing to Christ].
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