Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Save Me, O God
To the choirmaster: according to (A)Lilies. Of David.
30 I will (A)praise the name of God with a song;
I will (B)magnify him with (C)thanksgiving.
31 This will (D)please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull (E)with horns and hoofs.
32 When (F)the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, (G)let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and (H)does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;[a] walk before me, and be (A)blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and (B)may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram (C)fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be (D)the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram,[b] but (E)your name shall be Abraham,[c] (F)for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make (G)you into nations, and (H)kings shall come from you. 7 And I will (I)establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, (J)to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And (K)I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and (L)I will be their God.”
9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a (M)sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is (N)eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or (O)bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
Abraham Justified by Faith
4 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, (A)our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but (B)not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? (C)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now (D)to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but (E)believes in[a] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 (F)“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not (G)count his sin.”
9 Is this blessing then only for (H)the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? (I)For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 (J)He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was (K)to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.