Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Isaac’s Birth Foretold

18 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great oak trees of Mamre while he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. ² Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself toward the ground.

³ He said, “My Lord, if I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass by Your servant. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵ I will bring a piece of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. After that you may pass on, now that you have come to your servant.”

And they said, “So do, as you have said.”

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three measures^[a] of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes.”

⁷ Then Abraham ran to the herd and took a choice and tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He then brought butter and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹ They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”

And he said, “There, in the tent.”

¹⁰ One of them said, “I will certainly return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old and very advanced in age, and Sarah was well past childbearing. ¹² Therefore Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am so old and my lord is old also, shall I have pleasure?”

¹³ Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I surely bear a child when I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid.

But He said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

The Birth of Isaac

21 The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. ² For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time that God had spoken to him. ³ Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. ⁴ Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵ Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶ And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. All who hear will laugh with me.” ⁷ Also she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Psalm 116

Results of Justification

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and so we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also boast in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces patience, ⁴ patience produces character, and character produces hope. ⁵ And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

⁶ While we were yet weak, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Rarely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The Compassion of Jesus

³⁵ Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. ³⁶ But when He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they fainted and were scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ³⁸ Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He will send out laborers into His harvest.”

The Mission of the Twelve Apostles^(A)

10 He called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

² Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother; James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus; and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

The Commissioning of the Twelve Apostles^(B)

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out, and commanded them, saying, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans. ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

⁹ “Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper for your purses, ¹⁰ nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor shoes, nor even staffs. For the workman is worthy of his keep.

¹¹ “In whatever city or town you enter, inquire in it who is worthy. And live there until you leave. ¹² When you come into a house, greet it. ¹³ If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ Whoever will not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that town.

Coming Persecutions^(A)

¹⁶ “Look, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they deliver you up, take no thought of how or what you will speak. For it will be given you at that time what you will speak. ²⁰ For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks through you.

²¹ “The brother will deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child. And the children will rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. ²² You will be hated by all men for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ But when they persecute you in this city, escape into another. For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.