Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Vav

Circumcision, the Sign of the Covenant

17 Now it happened that when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ^(A)Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him,

³ Then Abram ^(F)fell on his face, and God spoke with him, saying,

⁶ And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^(J)kings will go forth from you. ⁷ And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an ^(K)everlasting covenant, ^(L)to be God to you and ^(M)to your seed after you. ^8 (N)And I will give to you and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and ^(O)I will be their God.”

⁹ God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, ^(P)you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. ^10 (Q)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ And ^(R)you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² And every male among you who is ^(S)eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, one who is born in the house or one who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your seed. ¹³ A servant who is born in your house or ^(T)who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be ^(U)cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

Sarah Will Bear Isaac

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but ^[f]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ And I will bless her, and indeed I will give you ^(V)a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; ^(W)kings of peoples will ^[g]come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(X)fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, “Will a son be born to a man one hundred years old? And ^(Y)will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a son?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” ¹⁹ But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you ^(Z)a son, and you shall call his name ^[h]Isaac; and ^(AA)I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and ^(AB)will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. ^(AC)He shall ^[i]become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a ^(AD)great nation. ²¹ But My covenant I will establish with ^(AE)Isaac, whom ^(AF)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” ²² So He finished talking with him, and ^(AG)God went up from Abraham.

²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all who were ^(AH)born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, ^(AI)as God had spoken with him. ²⁴ Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ^(AJ)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And ^(AK)Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son. ²⁷ Now all the men of his household, who were ^(AL)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

13 Let ^(A)love of the brothers continue. ² Do not neglect to ^(B)show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have ^(C)entertained angels without knowing it. ^3 (D)Remember ^(E)the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you yourselves also are in the body. ^4 (F)Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled, ^(G)for the sexually immoral and adulterers God will judge. ⁵ Make sure that your way of life is ^(H)free from the love of money, ^(I)being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “^(J)I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” ⁶ so that we confidently say,

⁷ Remember your ^(L)leaders, who spoke ^(M)the word of God to you; and considering the ^[b]result of their conduct, ^(N)imitate their faith. ^8 (O)Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ^9 (P)Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to ^(Q)be strengthened by grace, not by ^(R)foods, ^(S)through which those who ^[c]were so occupied were not benefited. ¹⁰ We have an altar ^(T)from which those ^(U)who serve the tabernacle have no authority to eat. ¹¹ For ^(V)the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. ¹² Therefore Jesus also, ^(W)that He might sanctify the people ^(X)through His own blood, suffered ^(Y)outside the gate. ¹³ So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, ^(Z)bearing His reproach. ¹⁴ For here ^(AA)we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking ^(AB)the one to come. ^15 (AC)Through Him then, let us continually offer up a ^(AD)sacrifice of praise to God, that is, ^(AE)the fruit of lips that confess His name. ¹⁶ And do not neglect doing good and ^(AF)sharing, for ^(AG)with such sacrifices God is pleased.