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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 119:41-48

⁴¹^[a]Let your kindness^[b] descend on me, O Lord,
    your salvation in accord with your promise.
⁴²Then I will respond to those who insult me,
    because I trust in your word.
⁴³Do not remove from my mouth the word of truth,^[c]
    for I place my hope in your judgment.
⁴⁴I will keep your law continually,
    forever and ever.
⁴⁵I will walk in complete freedom
    because I have sought your commands.^[d]
⁴⁶I will speak of your statutes in the presence of kings
    and will not be ashamed.
⁴⁷Your precepts fill me with delight
    because I love them.
⁴⁸I lift up my hands^[e] to your precepts, which I love,
    and I meditate on your decrees.

Zayin

Genesis 17

Chapter 17

The Covenant and Its Sign.^[a] ¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty.^[b] Walk before me and be blameless. ²I will establish my covenant between me and you and I will multiply you greatly.”

³Abram immediately fell down upon his face. God said to him, ⁴“On my part, behold, my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. ⁵You will no longer be called Abram, but Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.^[c] ⁶I will make you very, very fruitful. I will make nations come from you, and you shall give birth to kings. ⁷I will establish my covenant with you for all generations. It will be an eternal covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸I will give you and your descendants after you this land where you are now an alien. All of the land of Canaan shall be your eternal possession. I will be your God.”

⁹God said to Abraham, “On your part, you must observe my covenant, you and your descendants after you, for all time. ¹⁰This is my covenant that you must observe, a covenant between me and your descendants after you: every male among you must be circumcised. ¹¹You shall circumcise the flesh of the male member. This shall be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹²Whenever baby boys are eight days old, they will be circumcised, whether they are your own children or the children of those whom you bought and who are foreigners and not of your bloodline. ¹³You must circumcise those who are born in your house and those who are bought by you. Thus, my covenant will be marked in your flesh as an eternal covenant. ¹⁴The male who is not circumcised, the one whose flesh of his member is not circumcised, is to be cut off from his people. He will have violated my covenant.”

¹⁵God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai, your wife, she will no longer be called Sarai, but rather Sarah. ¹⁶I will bless her and I will give you and her a son. I will bless her so that she shall become the mother of nations; kings of peoples shall descend from her.”

¹⁷Abraham bowed down to the earth and laughed^[d] when he thought, “Shall a man who is one hundred years old have a son? And Sarah, who is ninety years old, can she give birth?” ¹⁸Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live in your presence!”

¹⁹But God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an eternal covenant, that I will be his God and the God of his descendants after him. ²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and very, very numerous. Twelve princes shall come from him and I will make him a great nation. ²¹But I will establish my covenant with Isaac. Sarah shall give birth to him by this time next year.” ²²God thus finished speaking to Abraham, and rising into the heavens, he left him.

²³Abraham therefore took Ishmael his son and all those born into his house and all those whom he had bought—all the males belonging to the household of Abraham—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that same day, as the Lord had commanded him. ²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he had the flesh of his foreskin circumcised. ²⁵Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. ²⁶Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised that same day. ²⁷And all the men of his household, those born in his house and those foreigners bought with money, were circumcised with him.

Footnotes

Genesis 17:1 Chapter 17 is simply the Priestly version of the story that has been already told in chapter 15 (the covenant) and will be told in the first half of chapter 18 (the promise of Isaac). Along with the Priestly version of the promises the present chapter gives a more developed idea of the covenant. As will become clear from subsequent biblical revelation, God’s promises to human beings contain an unqualified and unmerited part and a conditional part; the absolute aspect is seen in the covenant with Abraham, the conditional part in the covenant at Sinai, which will involve bilateral commitments (Ex 19–24).
The point that is special to this chapter is the theme of circumcision as a constitutive sign of entrance into the covenant. This practice was widespread among various eastern peoples as an initiation into adulthood or marriage and was regarded as a sacrificial act. Since the reason for the existence of the people of Israel and therefore of their religion was to prepare for the future descendants who are the recipients of the promises (see 18:19), it is understandable that the people’s consecration to God should be celebrated with a sign that is connected with generation; thus it was appropriate for them to make this custom their own. But it is a sign that entails a mission. When Israel becomes content to practice the rite while forgetting its meaning, the Prophets will remind it of the demand for fidelity: the rite is valueless without the disposition of the heart (Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:7). Paul goes further and teaches that this external religious mark is now obsolete, for we are saved henceforth by Jesus Christ; in him we receive the baptism that brings us into the new covenant; circumcision was only a prefiguration of baptism (Gal 5:6; Phil 3:3; Col 2:11-12).
Genesis 17:1 God Almighty: in Hebrew, El-Shaddai, an ancient divine name from the period of the patriarchs (see Ex 6:3), retained chiefly in the Priestly tradition. The literal meaning is probably “The God of the Mountain,” referring to the widespread idea that the dwelling of the divinity was on the high mountains. In the Septuagint El-Shaddai is usually translated by the Greek word, pantokrator, “ruler of all,” while the Latin translations preferred omnipotens, “almighty,” which seems less valid.
Genesis 17:5 In the Semitic vision of things, when one person changes the name of another, the former is asserting power over the latter and guiding his destiny. Here “Abraham” is explained by assonance with ab hamôn, “father of a multitude,” or ab rab hamôn, “father of a great multitude.”
Genesis 17:17 Abraham . . . laughed: here, in the Priestly tradition, Abraham prostrates himself in adoration and laughs, not out of disbelief (since he is performing an act of worship) but out of amazement at such a paradoxical announcement: the whole idea is too much for him to dare hope for it, and he declares himself satisfied if Ishmael, his son, can inherit the divine promises.

Hebrews 13:1-16

Conclusion

Chapter 13

Aspects of the Christian Life.^[a] ¹Let mutual love continue, ²and do not forget to offer hospitality to strangers, for by doing this some have entertained angels without knowing it.^[b] ³Be mindful of those who are in prison, as though you were imprisoned with them, and of those who are being maltreated, since you too are in the body.

⁴Let marriage be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for those who are immoral and adulterers will have to face God’s judgment. ⁵Do not succumb to the love of money, but be content with what you have, for God has said, “I will never forsake you or abandon you.” ⁶Therefore, we can say with confidence:

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”

Let Us Seek the City That Is To Come.^[c] ⁷Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Keep in mind the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

⁹Do not be led astray by all kinds of strange doctrines. It is good for us to have our hearts strengthened by grace, and not by ceremonial foods, which have not benefited those who partake of them.

¹⁰We have an altar^[d] from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.^[e] ¹²Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood.^[f]

¹³Let us then go to him outside the camp^[g] and bear the abuse he endured. ¹⁴For here we have no lasting city, but we are seeking the one that is to come. ¹⁵Through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise,^[h] that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

¹⁶^[i]Do not neglect to do good works and to share with others what you have, for these are the kind of sacrifices that please God.

Footnotes

Hebrews 13:1 The Letter’s conclusion opens with a series of recommendations concerning the conduct and attitude of Christians.
Hebrews 13:2 Some have entertained angels without knowing it: e.g., Abraham (see Gen 18), Gideon (see Jdg 6), and Manoah (see Jdg 13).
Hebrews 13:7 The remembrance of leaders, who perhaps confronted martyrdom, is a call to fidelity. It provides the author with the opportunity to insert a new development in the Letter. Christians must cling to the teaching received from their leaders and not to the doctrines of Judaism. They should, therefore, look to Christ; only in him and nowhere else will believers find what can evoke the altar or the sacrifice. If Christ suffered outside of Jerusalem and not in the temple, was that not perhaps a sign that the worship of Mosaic times must be replaced by the definitive worship, which is spiritual? Note three important verses in this section: v. 8, a splendid profession of faith in Christ; v. 14, the thrust toward the future and the realities that endure; and v. 15, life as praise of God (see Ps 50:14, 23; Hos 14:3).
Hebrews 13:10 Have an altar: an allusion to Eucharistic worship and sacrifice, compared with the Levitical worship and sacrifices of the Old Testament (“the tabernacle”).
Hebrews 13:11 Camp: here, as in v. 9, the author uses the great Jewish rite of atonement as a point of comparison (see Lev 16:27).
Hebrews 13:12 Christ’s death outside Jerusalem symbolized the removal of sin in the same way that the removal of the bodies of sacrificed animals outside the camp of Israel had done.
Hebrews 13:13 Let us then go to him outside the camp: this is a call to separate from Judaism. Just as Christ died in disgrace outside the city, so Christians should be willing to face scorn by leaving Judaism for Christ.
Hebrews 13:15 Sacrifice of praise: “sacrifice” here means an offering to God (see Rom 12:1; Phil 4:18). There is no longer need for animal sacrifices.
Hebrews 13:16 Christians will have to facilitate the task of the leaders of the community and to put their preoccupations in prayer, even when these leaders believe themselves obliged to remind them of the difficult demands of fidelity.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Footnotes

Chapter 17

Footnotes

Conclusion

Chapter 13

Footnotes