A Petition to Be Saved from Death.

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the music director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A ^[a]Maskil of Heman ^[b]the Ezrahite.

The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her by the name ^[a]Sarai, but ^[b]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and indeed I will give you ^(A)a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; ^(B)kings of peoples will ^[c]come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(C)fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man a hundred years old? And ^(D)will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth to a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” ¹⁹ But God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will bear you ^(E)a son, and you shall name him ^[d]Isaac; and ^(F)I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his ^[e]descendants after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and ^(G)make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly. ^(H)He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a ^(I)great nation. ²¹ But I will establish My covenant with ^(J)Isaac, whom ^(K)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” ²² When He finished talking with him, ^(L)God went up from Abraham.

²³ Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all the slaves who were ^(M)born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on this very same day, ^(N)as God had said to him. ²⁴ Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ^(O)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And his son ^(P)Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ On this very same day Abraham was circumcised, as well as his son Ishmael. ²⁷ And all the men of his household, those who were ^(Q)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

¹¹ Every priest stands daily ministering and ^(A)offering time after time the same sacrifices, which ^(B)can never take away sins; ¹² but He, having offered one sacrifice ^(C)for ^[a]sins ^(D)for all time, ^(E)sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ waiting from that time onward ^(F)until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet. ¹⁴ For by one offering He has ^(G)perfected ^(H)for all time those who are ^[b]sanctified. ¹⁵ And ^(I)the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

He then says,

¹⁸ Now where there is forgiveness of these things, an offering for sin is no longer required.

A New and Living Way

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we ^(L)have confidence to ^(M)enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by ^(N)a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through ^(O)the veil, that is, through His flesh, ²¹ and since we have ^(P)a great priest ^(Q)over the house of God, ²² let’s ^(R)approach God with a ^[c]sincere heart in ^(S)full assurance of faith, having our hearts ^(T)sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies ^(U)washed with pure water. ²³ Let’s hold firmly to the ^(V)confession of our ^(W)hope without wavering, for ^(X)He who promised is faithful; ²⁴ and let’s consider how ^(Y)to ^[d]encourage one another in love and ^(Z)good deeds, ²⁵ not abandoning our own ^(AA)meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but ^(AB)encouraging one another; and all the more as you see ^(AC)the day drawing near.

Five Thousand Men Fed

6 After these things ^(A)Jesus went away to the other side of ^(B)the Sea of Galilee (or ^(C)Tiberias). ² A large crowd was following Him, because they were watching the ^[a](D)signs which He was performing on those who were sick. ³ But ^(E)Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. ⁴ Now ^(F)the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵ So Jesus, after raising His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *said to ^(G)Philip, “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?” ⁶ But He was saying this only to ^(H)test him, for He Himself knew what He intended to do. ^7 (I)Philip answered Him, “^(J)Two hundred ^[b]denarii worth of bread is not enough for them, for each to receive just a little!” ⁸ One of His ^(K)disciples, ^(L)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *said to Him, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two ^(M)fish; but what are these for so many people?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people recline to eat.” Now there was ^(N)plenty of grass in the place. So the men reclined, about ^[c](O)five thousand in number. ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, and ^(P)after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were reclining; likewise also of the ^(Q)fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² And when they had eaten their fill, He *said to His ^(R)disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up, and filled twelve ^(S)baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. ¹⁴ Therefore when the people saw the ^[d]sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the ^(T)Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Water

¹⁵ So Jesus, aware that they ^[e]intended to come and take Him by force ^(U)to make Him king, ^(V)withdrew again to ^(W)the mountain by Himself, alone.