Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
23 You who fear the Lord, 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 abhorred
the torment of the oppressed.(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 in the great assembly
because of you;(F)
I will fulfill my vows
before those who fear you.[a](G)
26 The humble 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 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 declare his righteousness;
to a people yet to be born
they will declare 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(A) 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. 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 ten years. 4 He slept with[a] Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering![b] I put my slave in your arms,[c] and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.”(B)
6 Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; 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 will we say that Abraham, our forefather(A) according to the flesh, has found?[a] 2 If Abraham was justified[b] by works,(B) he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.[c](C) 4 Now to the one who works,(D) pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly,(E) his faith is credited for righteousness.
David Celebrating the Same Truth
6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven
and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the person
the Lord will never charge with sin.[d](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.[e](H) 10 In what way, then, was it credited—while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was 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[f](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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