Genesis 16:15-17:14
Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his
son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar
bore him Ishmael. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD
appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me,
and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and
will make you exceedingly numerous." Then Abram fell on his face; and
God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be
the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be
Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor
of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I
will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will
establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you
throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to
you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your
offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land
of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God." God said
to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your
offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant,
which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you:
Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the
flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between
me and you. Throughout your generations every male among you shall be
circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your
house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not
of your offspring. Both the slave born in your house and the one bought
with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your
flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not
circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his
people; he has broken my covenant."
Hebrews 10:1-10
Since the
law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form
of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are
continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach.
Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the
worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any
consciousness of sin? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin
year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats
to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he
said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you
have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have
taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'See, God, I have come to do your will, O
God' (in the scroll of the book it is written of me)." When he said
above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and
offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered
according to the law), then he added, "See, I have come to do your
will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it
is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
John 5:30-47
"I can do
nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because
I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. "If I
testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who
testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You
sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I
accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be
saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to
rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than
John's. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very
works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.
And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have
never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word
abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent. "You
search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal
life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come
to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know
that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father's
name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you
will accept him. How can you believe when you accept glory from one
another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is
God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser
is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you
would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what
he wrote, how will you believe what I say?"
Psalm 50 Deus deorum
1 The LORD, the God of gods, has spoken; he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, God reveals himself in glory.
3 Our God will come and will not keep silence; before him there is a consuming flame, and round about him a raging storm.
4 He calls the heavens and the earth from above to witness the judgment of his people.
5 Gather before me my loyal followers, those who have made a covenant with me and sealed it with sacrifice.
6 Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; for God himself is judge.
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak: "O Israel, I will bear witness against you; for I am God, your God.
8 I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices; your offerings are always before me.
9 I will take no bull-calf from your stalls, nor he-goats out of your pens;
10 For all the beasts of the forest are mine, the herds in their thousands upon the hills.
11 I know every bird in the sky, and the creatures of the fields are in my sight.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.
13 Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and make good your vows to the Most High.
15 Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honor me."
16 But to the wicked God says: "Why do you recite my statutes, and take my covenant upon your lips;
17 Since you refuse discipline, and toss my words behind your back?
18 When you see a thief, you make him your friend, and you cast in your lot with adulterers.
19 You have loosed your lips for evil, and harnessed your tongue to a lie.
20 You are always speaking evil of your brother and slandering your own mother's son.
21 These things you have done, and I kept still, and you thought that I am like you."
22 I have made my accusation; I have put my case in order before your eyes.
23 Consider this well, you who forget God, lest I rend you and there be none to deliver you.
24 Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me; but to
those who keep in my way will I show the salvation of God."
Psalm 118 Confitemini Domino
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let Israel now proclaim, "His mercy endures for ever."
3 Let the house of Aaron now proclaim, "His mercy endures for ever."
4 Let those who fear the LORD now proclaim, "His mercy endures for ever."
5 I called to the LORD in my distress; the LORD answered by setting me free.
6 The LORD is at my side, therefore I will not fear; what can anyone do to me?
7 The LORD is at my side to help me; I will triumph over those who hate me.
8 It is better to rely on the LORD than to put any trust in flesh.
9 It is better to rely on the LORD than to put any trust in rulers.
10 All the ungodly encompass me; in the Name of the LORD I will repel them.
11 They hem me in, they hem me in on every side; in the name of the LORD I will repel them.
12 They swarm about me like bees; they blaze like a fire of thorns; in the name of the LORD I will repel them.
13 I was pressed so hard that I almost fell, but the LORD came to my help.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.
15 There is a sound of exultation and victory in the tents of the righteous:
16 The right hand of the LORD has triumphed! the right hand of the LORD is exalted! the right hand of the LORD has triumphed!
17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
18 The LORD has punished me sorely, but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them; I will offer thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD; he who is righteous may enter.
21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me and have become my salvation.
22 The same stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the LORD'S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 On this day the LORD has acted; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Hosanna, LORD, hosanna! LORD, send us now success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; we bless you from the house of the LORD.
27 God is the LORD; he has shined upon us; form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will thank you; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his mercy endures for ever.
