Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
23 You who fear Yahweh, praise Him!(A)
All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him!
All you descendants of Israel, revere Him!(B)
24 For He has not despised or detested
the torment of the afflicted.(C)
He did not hide His face from him(D)
but listened when he cried to Him for help.(E)
25 I will give praise[a] in the great congregation
because of You;(F)
I will fulfill my vows
before those who fear You.[b](G)
26 The humble[c] will eat and be satisfied;(H)
those who seek the Lord will praise Him.
May your hearts live forever!(I)
27 All the ends of the earth will remember
and turn to the Lord.
All the families of the nations
will bow down before You,(J)
28 for kingship belongs to the Lord;
He rules over the nations.(K)
29 All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down;
all those who go down to the dust
will kneel before Him—
even the one who cannot preserve his life.(L)
30 Their descendants will serve Him;
the next generation will be told about the Lord.(M)
31 They will come and tell a people yet to be born
about His righteousness—
what He has done.(N)
Hagar and Ishmael
16 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.[a] 3 So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years. 4 He slept with[b] Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering![c] I put my slave in your arms,[d] and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you.”(A)
6 Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your hands; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.
Abraham Justified by Faith
4 What then can we say that Abraham, our physical ancestor,[a](A) has found? 2 If Abraham was justified[b] by works,(B) he has something to brag about—but not before God.[c] 3 For what does the Scripture say?
4 Now to the one who works,(D) pay is not considered as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares the ungodly to be righteous,[e](E) his faith is credited for righteousness.
David Celebrating the Same Truth
6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the man God credits righteousness to apart from works:
7 How joyful are those whose lawless acts are forgiven
and whose sins are covered!
8 How joyful is the man
the Lord will never charge with sin!(F)[f]
Abraham Justified before Circumcision
9 Is this blessing only for the circumcised,(G) then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness.(H)[g] 10 In what way then was it credited—while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision(I) as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith[h](J) while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father(K) of all who believe(L) but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. 12 And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.
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