Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Offering of Isaac

22 Now it happened after these things, that ^(A)God tested Abraham and said to him, “^(B)Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² Then He said, “Take now ^(C)your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and ^(D)go forth to the land of ^(E)Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(F)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from a distance. ⁵ And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there; and we will worship, and we will return to you.” ⁶ Then Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(G)put it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

⁷ Then Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^(H)lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸ And Abraham said, “God will ^[a]provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

⁹ Then they came to ^(I)the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built ^(J)the altar there and arranged the wood and bound his son Isaac and ^(K)put him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But ^(L)the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² And He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the boy, and do nothing to him; for now ^(M)I know that you ^[b]fear God, since you have not withheld ^(N)your son, your only one, from Me.” ¹³ Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there was a ram after it had been caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of that place ^[c]Yahweh Will Provide, as it is said this day, “In the mount of Yahweh ^(O)it will ^[d]be provided.”

How Long, O Yahweh?

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹² Therefore do not let sin ^(A)reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, ¹³ and do not go on ^(B)presenting your members to sin as ^[a]instruments of unrighteousness, but ^(C)present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as ^[b]instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴ For ^(D)sin shall not ^(E)be master over you, for ^(F)you are not under law but ^(G)under grace.

Slaves of Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? ^(H)Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? ^(I)May it never be! ¹⁶ Do you not ^(J)know that when you go on presenting yourselves to someone as ^(K)slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of ^(L)sin ^[c]leading to death, or of obedience ^[d]leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But ^(M)thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that ^(N)pattern of teaching to which you were ^(O)given over, ¹⁸ and having been ^(P)freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ^19 (Q)I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just ^(R)as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, ^[e]leading to further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, ^[f]leading to sanctification.

²⁰ For ^(S)when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ Therefore what ^[g](T)benefit were you then having ^[h]from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is ^(U)death. ²² But now having been ^(V)freed from sin and ^(W)enslaved to God, you have your ^[i](X)benefit, ^[j]leading to sanctification, and ^(Y)the end, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of ^(Z)sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is ^(AA)eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Reward of Service

⁴⁰ “^(A)He who receives you receives Me, and ^(B)he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. ^41 (C)He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴² And ^(D)whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these ^[a]little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”