Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Parashat Vayera

The Promise of a Son

18 Then Adonai appeared to him at Mamre’s large trees while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. ² When he lifted up his eyes to see, suddenly, three men were standing right by him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed down to the ground. ³ Then he said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by your servant. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought so you can wash your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree. ⁵ And let me bring a bit of bread so that you can refresh yourselves—then you can pass on—since you have passed by your servant.

They said, “Do just as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and prepare bread loaves!” ⁷ Then to the herd Abraham ran and took a young ox, tender and good, and he gave it to the servant, who prepared it quickly. ⁸ Then he took butter and milk and the young ox that he had prepared and set it before them. While he was standing by them under the tree, they ate.

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

“There, in the tent,” he said.

¹⁰ Then He said, “I will most surely return to you in about a year’s time, surprisingly, Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind Him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years—Sarah had stopped having the way of women. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I’ve grown decrepit, can I have desire—and my lord so old?”

¹³ Then Adonai said to Abraham, “Why is it that Sarah laughed, saying, ‘Can I really give birth when I am so old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for Adonai? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah denied it saying, “I didn’t laugh!” For she was afraid.

But He said, “No—for you did laugh.”

Birth of Isaac

21 Then Adonai visited Sarah just as He had said, and Adonai did for Sarah just as He had spoken. ² So Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time that God had told him. ³ Abraham named his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore for him—Isaac. ⁴ Then Abraham circumcised Isaac, his eight-day-old son, just as God had commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac his son was born to him.

⁶ So Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me! Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” ⁷ She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham, ‘Sarah has nursed children’? For I have given birth to a son in his old age!”

Lift Up the Cup of Salvation

Psalm 116

Shalom with God through Messiah

5 Therefore, having been made righteous by trusting, we have shalom with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. ^{[a] 2} Through Him we also have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and boast in the hope of God’s glory. ³ And not only that, but we also boast in suffering—knowing that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Ruach ha-Kodesh who was given to us.

⁶ For while we were still helpless, at the right time Messiah died for the ungodly. ⁷ For rarely will anyone die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man someone might even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.

³⁵ Now Yeshua was going around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. ³⁶ When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ^{[a] 37} Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest that He may send out workers into His harvest field.”

Instructions to the Twelve

10 Yeshua summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, so they could drive them out and heal every kind of disease and sickness. ² Now these are the names of the twelve emissaries: first, Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; Jacob the son of Zebedee and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; Jacob, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot,^[b] and Judah the man from Kriot,^[c] the one who also betrayed Him.

⁵ Yeshua sent out these twelve and ordered them, “Do not go to the Gentiles, and do not enter into any Samaritan town. ⁶ But go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ As you go, proclaim, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near!’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with tzara’at, drive out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

⁹ Do not get gold or silver or copper for your money belts, ¹⁰ or a bag for the journey, or two shirts,^[a] or sandals, or a walking stick; for the worker is entitled to his food.

¹¹ “Whatever town or village you shall enter, find out who in it is worthy and stay there until you leave. ¹² As you come into the house, greet it. ¹³ If the household is worthy, let your shalom come upon it. But if it’s not worthy, let your shalom return to you. ¹⁴ And whoever will not receive you or listen to your words, as you leave that house or that town, shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Amen, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah^[b] on the Day of Judgment than for that town.

¹⁶ “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog^[c] you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ You will be brought before governors and kings because of Me, as a witness to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you should say, for it shall be given to you in that hour what you should say. ²⁰ For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death. ²² And you will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end shall be saved. ²³ Whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next. Amen, I tell you, you will never finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.