Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;¹ walk before me, and be ⁿblameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and ^omay multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram ^pfell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be ^qthe father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram,² but ^ryour name shall be Abraham,^{3 s}for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make ^tyou into nations, and ^ukings shall come from you. 7 And I will ^vestablish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, ^wto be God to you and to your offspring after you.

Isaac’s Birth Promised

15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah¹ shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will ^cgive² you a son by her. I will bless her, and ^dshe shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

Peace with God Through Faith

1 ^aTherefore, since we have been justified by faith, ^bwe¹ have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also ^cobtained access by faith² into this grace ^din which we stand, and ^ewe³ rejoice⁴ in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we ^frejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering ^gproduces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and ^hhope does not put us to shame, because God’s love ⁱhas been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For ^jwhile we were still weak, at the right time ^kChrist died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but ^lGod shows his love for us in that ^mwhile we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, ⁿwe have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from ^othe wrath of God. 10 For if ^pwhile we were enemies ^qwe were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by ^rhis life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received ^sreconciliation.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

27 ^oAnd Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, ^p“John the Baptist; and others say, ^qElijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, ^r“You are ^sthe Christ.” 30 ^tAnd he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31 ^uAnd he began to teach them that ^vthe Son of Man must ^wsuffer many things and ^xbe rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and ^yafter three days rise again. 32 And he said this ^zplainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ^a“Get behind me, Satan! For you ^bare not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^cdeny himself and ^dtake up his cross and follow me. 35 For ^dwhoever would save his life¹ will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake ^eand the gospel’s will save it. 36 ^fFor what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For ^gwhat can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For ^hwhoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this ⁱadulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed ^jwhen he comes in the glory of his Father with ^kthe holy angels.”