The Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old,^(A) the Lord appeared to him^(B) and said, “I am God Almighty^[a];^(C) walk before me faithfully and be blameless.^{(D) 2} Then I will make my covenant between me and you^(E) and will greatly increase your numbers.”^(F)

³ Abram fell facedown,^(G) and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you:^(H) You will be the father of many nations.^{(I) 5} No longer will you be called Abram^[b]; your name will be Abraham,^[c](J) for I have made you a father of many nations.^{(K) 6} I will make you very fruitful;^(L) I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.^{(M) 7} I will establish my covenant^(N) as an everlasting covenant^(O) between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God^(P) and the God of your descendants after you.^{(Q) 8} The whole land of Canaan,^(R) where you now reside as a foreigner,^(S) I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;^(T) and I will be their God.^(U)”

⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant,^(V) you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.^{(W) 10} This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.^{(X) 11} You are to undergo circumcision,^(Y) and it will be the sign of the covenant^(Z) between me and you. ¹² For the generations to come^(AA) every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised,^(AB) including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. ¹³ Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.^(AC) My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.^{(AD) 14} Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised^(AE) in the flesh, will be cut off from his people;^(AF) he has broken my covenant.^(AG)”

¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai^(AH) your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.^{(AI) 16} I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.^(AJ) I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations;^(AK) kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown;^(AL) he laughed^(AM) and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?^(AN) Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”^{(AO) 18} And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael^(AP) might live under your blessing!”^(AQ)

¹⁹ Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,^(AR) and you will call him Isaac.^[d](AS) I will establish my covenant with him^(AT) as an everlasting covenant^(AU) for his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.^(AV) He will be the father of twelve rulers,^(AW) and I will make him into a great nation.^{(AX) 21} But my covenant^(AY) I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you^(AZ) by this time next year.”^{(BA) 22} When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.^(BB)

²³ On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household^(BC) or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.^{(BD) 24} Abraham was ninety-nine years old^(BE) when he was circumcised,^{(BF) 25} and his son Ishmael^(BG) was thirteen; ²⁶ Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. ²⁷ And every male in Abraham’s household^(BH), including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Job

19 Then Job replied:

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven^(A)

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,^(B) you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.^{(C) 4} Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.^{(D) 5} And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.^(E)

Causing to Stumble

⁶ “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.^{(F) 7} Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!^{(G) 8} If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble,^(H) cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to stumble,^(I) gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.^(J)

The Parable of the Wandering Sheep^(K)

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels^(L) in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. ^[11] [a]

¹² “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. ¹⁴ In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

Dealing With Sin in the Church

¹⁵ “If your brother or sister^[b] sins,^[c] go and point out their fault,^(M) just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’^{[d](N) 17} If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church;^(O) and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.^(P)

¹⁸ “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be^[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[f] loosed in heaven.^(Q)

¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them^(R) by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”^(S)

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?^(T) Up to seven times?”^(U)

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[g](V)

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like^(W) a king who wanted to settle accounts^(X) with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[h] was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay,^(Y) the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold^(Z) to repay the debt.

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him.^(AA) ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.^[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”^(AB)