Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Covenant of Circumcision
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am Almighty God. Walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between you and Me and will exceedingly multiply you.”
3 Abram fell on his face and God said to him, 4 “As for Me, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer will your name be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you will not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.”
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
all you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
and stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted;
nor has He hid His face from him;
but when he cried to Him, He heard.
25 From You my praise will be in the great congregation;
I will pay my vows before those who fear Him.
26 The meek will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever.
27 All the ends of the world
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will worship before You.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and He rules among the nations.
29 All the prosperous ones of the earth will eat and worship;
all who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
even he who cannot keep his own soul alive.
30 Posterity will serve Him;
it will be told to generations about the Lord;
31 they will come and declare His righteousness
to a people yet to be born,
that He has acted.
The Promise Received Through Faith
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his descendants received the promise that he would be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law become heirs, faith would be made void and the promise nullified, 15 because the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, there is no sin.
16 Therefore the promise comes through faith, so that it might be by grace, that the promise would be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”[a]) before God whom he believed, and who raises the dead, and calls those things that do not exist as though they did.
18 Against all hope, he believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”[b] 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body to be dead (when he was about a hundred years old), nor yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was able to perform. 22 Therefore “it was credited to him as righteousness.”[c] 23 Now the words, “it was credited to him,” were not written for his sake only, 24 but also for us, to whom it shall be credited if we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered for our transgressions, and was raised for our justification.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection(A)
31 He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said this openly. And Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him.
33 But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
34 When He had called the people to Him, with His disciples, He said to them, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever would lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 Whoever therefore is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
The Transfiguration(A)
2 After six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain, alone by themselves. And He was transfigured before them. 3 His garments became shiny, extremely white as snow, such as no launderer on earth could whiten them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses. And they were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three sanctuaries: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, because they were very afraid.
7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus only.
9 As they came down the mountain, He warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.