Matthew 3:13–17; Acts 4:1–22; Psalm 6; Genesis 15–17

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Matthew 3:13–17

The Baptism of Jesus

13 kThen Jesus came lfrom Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 mJohn would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? 15 But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, othe heavens were opened to him,1 and he psaw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, qa voice from heaven said, rThis is my beloved Son,2 with whom I am well pleased.


Acts 4:1–22

Peter and John Before the Council

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and lthe captain of the temple and mthe Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming nin Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and oput them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and pthe number of the men came to about five thousand.

On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with qAnnas the high priest and rCaiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, sBy what power or tby what name did you do this? Then Peter, ufilled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today vconcerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that wby the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, xwhom God raised from the deadby him this man is standing before you well. 11 yThis Jesus1 is the stone that was zrejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.2 12 And there is asalvation bin no one else, for cthere is no other dname under heaven given among men3 by which we must be saved.

13 eNow when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who was healed fstanding beside them, gthey had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16 saying, hWhat shall we do with these men? For that ia notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them jto speak no more to anyone in this name. 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, kWhether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for lwe cannot but speak of what mwe have seen and heard. 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, nbecause of the people, for all were praising God ofor what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.


Psalm 6

O Lord, Deliver My Life

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to vThe Sheminith.1 A Psalm of David.

O Lord, wrebuke me not in your anger,

nor xdiscipline me in your wrath.

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;

yheal me, O Lord, zfor my bones are troubled.

My asoul also is greatly troubled.

But you, O Lordbhow long?

Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;

save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

For in cdeath there is no remembrance of you;

in Sheol who will give you praise?

I am dweary with my emoaning;

every night I flood my bed with tears;

I drench my couch with my weeping.

My feye wastes away because of grief;

it grows weak because of all my foes.

gDepart from me, all you hworkers of evil,

for the Lord ihas heard the sound of my weeping.

The Lord has heard my jplea;

the Lord accepts my prayer.

10  All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;

they shall kturn back and be put to shame in a moment.


Genesis 15–17

God’s Covenant with Abram

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: cFear not, Abram, I am dyour shield; your reward shall be very great. But Abram said, O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue1 childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and ea member of my household will be my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: This man shall not be your heir; fyour very own son2 shall be your heir. And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven, and gnumber the stars, if you are able to number them. Then he said to him, hSo shall your offspring be. And ihe believed the Lord, and jhe counted it to him as righteousness.

And he said to him, I am the Lord who kbrought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans lto give you this land to possess. But he said, O Lord God, mhow am I to know that I shall possess it? He said to him, Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he brought him all these, ncut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But ohe did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a pdeep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, Know for certain qthat your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and rthey will be afflicted for sfour hundred years. 14 But tI will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward uthey shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; vyou shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for wthe iniquity of the Amorites xis not yet complete.

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, yTo your offspring I give3 this land, from zthe river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.

Sarai and Hagar

aNow Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was bHagar. And Sarai said to Abram, Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children4 by her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram chad lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, dshe looked with contempt on her mistress.5 And Sarai said to Abram, May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May ethe Lord judge between you and me! But Abram said to Sarai, Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please. Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to fShur. And he said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going? She said, I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai. The angel of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress and submit to her. 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, gI will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,

Behold, you are pregnant

and shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael,6

hbecause the Lord has listened to your affliction.

12  He shall be ia wild donkey of a man,

his hand against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he shall dwell jover against all his kinsmen.

13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You are a God of seeing,7 for she said, kTruly here I have seen him who looks after me.8 14 Therefore the well was called lBeer-lahai-roi;9 it lies between mKadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty;10 walk before me, and be nblameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and omay multiply you greatly. Then Abram pfell on his face. And God said to him, Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be qthe father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram,11 but ryour name shall be Abraham,12 sfor I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make tyou into nations, and ukings shall come from you. 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. And xI 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 yI will be their God.

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 zsign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is aeight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bbought 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. 14 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.

Isaac’s Birth Promised

15 And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah13 shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will cgive14 you a son by her. I will bless her, and dshe shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her. 17 Then Abraham efell on his face fand laughed and said to himself, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? 18 And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before you! 19 God said, No, but gSarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name hIsaac.15 I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and imultiply him greatly. He jshall father twelve princes, and kI will make him into a great nation. 21 But lI will establish my covenant with Isaac, mwhom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.

22 When he had finished talking with him, nGod went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.