Bible: 2 Corinthians 2;17; 4:2; 7:12; 8:21; 12:19

2:1 So 1  I made up my own mind 2  not to pay you another painful visit. 3  2:2 For if I make you sad, who would be left to make me glad 4  but the one I caused to be sad? 2:3 And I wrote this very thing to you, 5  so that when I came 6  I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours. 2:4 For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you. 7  2:5 But if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent (not to exaggerate) 8  he has saddened all of you as well. 2:6 This punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him, 2:7 so that now instead 9  you should rather forgive and comfort him. 10  This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair. 11  2:8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 12  2:9 For this reason also I wrote you: 13  to test you to see 14  if you are obedient in everything. 2:10 If you forgive anyone for anything, I also forgive him – for indeed what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything) I did so for you in the presence of Christ, 2:11 so that we may not be exploited 15  by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes). 2:12 Now when I arrived in Troas 16  to proclaim the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord had opened 17  a door of opportunity 18  for me, 2:13 I had no relief in my spirit, 19  because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye to them 20  and set out 21  for Macedonia.

Apostolic Ministry

2:14 But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession 22  in Christ 23  and who makes known 24  through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of him in every place. 2:15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing – 2:16 to the latter an odor 25  from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 26  2:17 For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit, 27  but we are speaking in Christ before 28  God as persons of sincerity, 29  as persons sent from God.

The Sign of the Covenant

17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, 1  the Lord appeared to him and said, 2  “I am the sovereign God. 3  Walk 4  before me 5  and be blameless. 6  17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant 7  between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” 8 

17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, 9  and God said to him, 10  17:4 “As for me, 11  this 12  is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be 13  Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham 14  because I will make you 15  the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you 16  extremely 17  fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 18  17:7 I will confirm 19  my covenant as a perpetual 20  covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 21  17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing 22  – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent 23  possession. I will be their God.”

17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep 24  the covenantal requirement 25  I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: 26  Every male among you must be circumcised. 27  17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder 28  of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old 29  must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, 30  whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant 31  will be visible in your flesh as a permanent 32  reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male 33  who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off 34  from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” 35 

17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; 36  Sarah 37  will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. 38  Kings of countries 39  will come from her!”

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed 40  as he said to himself, 41  “Can 42  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 43  Can Sarah 44  bear a child at the age of ninety?” 45  17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that 46  Ishmael might live before you!” 47 

17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. 48  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual 49  covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 50  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. 51  He will become the father of twelve princes; 52  I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 53 

17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) 54  and circumcised them 55  on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old 56  when he was circumcised; 57  17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old 58  when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

4:2 Then she gave birth 1  to his brother Abel. 2  Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 

7:12 And the rain fell 1  on the earth forty days and forty nights.

8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma 1  and said 2  to himself, 3  “I will never again curse 4  the ground because of humankind, even though 5  the inclination of their minds 6  is evil from childhood on. 7  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

12:19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her 1  to be my wife? 2  Here is your wife! 3  Take her and go!” 4 
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