פרשת השבוע לך לך
Parashah Lekh-lekha • Get yourself out
Genesis 12:1-17:27

Torah

B'resheet (Genesis) 12:1-17:27

^12:1Now the LORD said to Avram, "Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you. ^12:2I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you, and make your name great. You will be a blessing. ^12:3I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. In you will all of the families of the earth be blessed."

^12:4So Avram went, as the LORD had spoken to him. Lot went with him. Avram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Charan. ^12:5Avram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother's son, all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls who they had gotten in Charan; and they went forth to go into the land of Kana`an. Into the land of Kana`an they came. ^12:6Avram passed through the land to the place of Shekhem, to the oak of Moreh. The Kana`ani was then in the land.

^12:7The LORD appeared to Avram, and said, "I will give this land to your seed."

He built an altar there to the LORD, who appeared to him. ^12:8He left from there to the mountain on the east of Beit-El, and pitched his tent, having Beit-El on the west, and `Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and called on the name of the LORD. ^12:9Avram traveled, going on still toward the South.

^12:10There was a famine in the land. Avram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was sore in the land. ^12:11It happened, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look on. ^12:12It will happen, when the Egyptians will see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife.' They will kill me, but they will save you alive. ^12:13Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you."

^12:14It happened that when Avram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ^12:15The princes of Par`oh saw her, and praised her to Par`oh; and the woman was taken into Par`oh's house. <sup>12:16</sup>He dealt well with Avram for her sake. He had sheep, and oxen, and male donkeys, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and female donkeys, and camels. <sup>12:17</sup>The LORD plagued Par`oh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Avram's wife. ^12:18Par`oh called Avram, and said, "What is this that you have done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife? ^12:19Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way."

^12:20Par`oh gave men charge concerning him: and they brought him on the way, and his wife, and all that he had.

^13:1Avram went up out of Egypt: he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South. ^13:2Avram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. ^13:3He went on his journeys from the South even to Beit-El, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beit-El and `Ai, <sup>13:4</sup>to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Avram called on the name of the LORD. <sup>13:5</sup>Lot also, who went with Avram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. <sup>13:6</sup>The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together: for their substance was great, so that they could not live together. <sup>13:7</sup>There was a strife between the herdsmen of Avram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle: and the Kana`ani and the Perizzi lived then in the land. ^13:8Avram said to Lot, "Please, let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are relatives. ^13:9Isn't the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left."

^13:10Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Yarden, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sedom and `Amorah, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Tzo`ar. ^13:11So Lot chose the Plain of the Yarden for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. ^13:12Avram lived in the land of Kana`an, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sedom. ^13:13Now the men of Sedom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against the LORD.

^13:14The LORD said to Avram, after Lot was separated from him, "Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, ^13:15for all the land which you see, I will give to you, and to your offspring forever. ^13:16I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then your seed may also be numbered. ^13:17Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it to you."

^13:18Avram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Chevron, and built an altar there to the LORD.

^14:1It happened in the days of Amrafel, king of Shin`ar, Aryokh, king of Ellasar, Kedorla`omer, king of `Elam, and Tid`al, king of Goyim, ^14:2that they made war with Bera, king of Sedom, and with Birsha, king of `Amorah, Shin'av, king of Admah, and Shem'ever, king of Tzevoyim, and the king of Bela (the same is Tzo`ar). ^14:3All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea). ^14:4Twelve years they served Kedorla`omer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled. <sup>14:5</sup>In the fourteenth year Kedorla`omer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Refa'im in `Ashterot-Karnayim, and the Zuzim in Cham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, <sup>14:6</sup>and the Chori in their Mount Se`ir, to El-Paran, which is by the wilderness. ^14:7They returned, and came to En-mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the `Amaleki, and also the Amori, that lived in Chatzatzon-Tamar. <sup>14:8</sup>There went out the king of Sedom, and the king of `Amorah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Tzevoyim, and the king of Bela (the same is Tzo`ar); and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim; <sup>14:9</sup>against Kedorla`omer king of `Elam, and Tid`al king of Goyim, and Amrafel king of Shin`ar, and Aryokh king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. <sup>14:10</sup>Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sedom and `Amorah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the mountain. ^14:11They took all the goods of Sedom and `Amorah, and all their food, and went their way. ^14:12They took Lot, Avram's brother's son, who lived in Sedom, and his goods, and departed.

^14:13One who had escaped came and told Avram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amori, brother of Eshkol, and brother of `Aner; and these were allies of Avram. ^14:14When Avram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. ^14:15He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Chovah, which is on the left hand of Dammesek. ^14:16He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

^14:17The king of Sedom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Kedorla`omer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (the same is the King's Valley). <sup>14:18</sup>Malki-Tzedek king of Shalem brought forth bread and wine: and he was kohen of El `Elyon. ^14:19He blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Avram of El `Elyon, possessor of heaven and earth: <sup>14:20</sup>and blessed be El `Elyon, who has delivered your enemies into your hand."

Avram gave him a tenth of all.

^14:21The king of Sedom said to Avram, "Give me the people, and take the goods to yourself."

^14:22Avram said to the king of Sedom, "I have lifted up my hand to the LORD, El `Elyon, possessor of heaven and earth, <sup>14:23</sup>that I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Avram rich.' <sup>14:24</sup>Except only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me, `Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre: let them take their portion."

^15:1After these things the word of the LORD came to Avram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Avram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

^15:2Avram said, "Lord G-d, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eli`ezer of Dammesek?" ^15:3Avram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir."

^15:4Behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir." ^15:5The LORD brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Avram, "So shall your seed be." ^15:6He believed in the LORD; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness. ^15:7He said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Kasdim, to give you this land to inherit it."

^15:8He said, "Lord G-d, how will I know that I will inherit it?"

^15:9He said to him, "Take me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon." ^15:10He took him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds. ^15:11The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Avram drove them away.

^15:12When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Avram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. ^15:13He said to Avram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. ^15:14I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great substance. ^15:15But you will go to your fathers in shalom. You will be buried in a good old age. ^15:16In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amori is not yet full." ^15:17It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ^15:18In that day the LORD made a covenant with Avram, saying, "To your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Perat: ^15:19the Kinim, the Kenizzi, the Kadmoni, ^15:20the Chitti, the Perizzi, the Refa'im, ^15:21the Amori, the Kana`anim, the Girgashi, and the Yevusi."

^16:1Now Sarai, Avram's wife, bore him no children. She had a handmaid, a Mitzrian, whose name was Hagar. ^16:2Sarai said to Avram," See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my handmaid. It may be that I will obtain children by her." Avram listened to the voice of Sarai. ^16:3Sarai, Avram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Avram had lived ten years in the land of Kana`an, and gave her to Avram her husband to be his wife. ^16:4He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. ^16:5Sarai said to Avram, "This wrong is your fault. I gave my handmaid into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between me and you."

^16:6But Avram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes." Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.

^16:7The angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. ^16:8He said, "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, where did you come from? Where are you going?"

She said, "I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai."

^16:9The angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands." ^16:10The angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude." ^16:11The angel of the LORD said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Yishma'el, because the LORD has heard your affliction. ^16:12He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers."

^16:13She called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a G-d who sees," for she said, "Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?" ^16:14Therefore the well was called Be'er-Lachai-Ro'i. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

^16:15Hagar bore a son for Avram. Avram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Yishma'el. ^16:16Avram was eighty-six years old, when Hagar bore Yishma'el to Avram.

^17:1When Avram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Avram, and said to him, "I am El Shaddai. Walk before me, and be blameless. ^17:2I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."

^17:3Avram fell on his face. G-d talked with him, saying, ^17:4"As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. ^17:5Neither will your name any more be called Avram, but your name will be Avraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made you. ^17:6I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. ^17:7I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a G-d to you and to your seed after you. ^17:8I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Kana`an, for an everlasting possession. I will be their G-d."

^17:9God said to Avraham, "As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. ^17:10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. ^17:11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of a covenant between me and you. ^17:12He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner who is not of your seed. ^17:13He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ^17:14The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant."

^17:15God said to Avraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. ^17:16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her."

^17:17Then Avraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?" ^17:18Avraham said to G-d, "Oh that Yishma'el might live before you!"

^17:19God said, "No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Yitzchak. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. ^17:20As for Yishma'el, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ^17:21But my covenant I establish with Yitzchak, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time in the next year."

^17:22When he finished talking with him, G-d went up from Avraham. ^17:23Avraham took Yishma'el his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money; every male among the men of Avraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as G-d had said to him. ^17:24Avraham was ninety-nine years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ^17:25Yishma'el, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ^17:26In the same day both Avraham and Yishma'el, his son, were circumcised. ^17:27All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money of a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

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Haftarah

Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 40:27-41:16

^40:27Why say you, Ya`akov, and speak, Yisra'el, My way is hid from the LORD, and the justice due to me is passed away from my G-d? ^40:28Have you not known? have you not heard? The everlasting G-d, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. ^40:29He gives power to the faint; and to him who has no might he increases strength. ^40:30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: ^40:31but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

^41:1Keep silence before me, islands; and let the peoples renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together to judgment. ^41:2Who has raised up one from the east, whom he calls in righteousness to his foot? he gives nations before him, and makes him rule over kings; he gives them as the dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow. ^41:3He pursues them, and passes on safely, even by a way that he had not gone with his feet. ^41:4Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last, I am he. ^41:5The isles have seen, and fear; the ends of the earth tremble; they draw near, and come. ^41:6They help everyone his neighbor; and every one says to his brother, Be of good courage. ^41:7So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, and he who smoothes with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fastens it with nails, that is should not be moved. ^41:8But you, Yisra'el, my servant, Ya`akov whom I have chosen, the seed of Avraham my friend, <sup>41:9</sup>you whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners of it, and said to you, You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away; <sup>41:10</sup>Don't you be afraid, for I am with you; don't be dismayed, for I am your G-d; I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. <sup>41:11</sup>Behold, all those who are incensed against you shall be disappointed and confounded: those who strive with you shall be as nothing, and shall perish. <sup>41:12</sup>You shall seek them, and shall not find them, even those who contend with you: those who war against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nothing. <sup>41:13</sup>For I, the LORD your G-d, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Don't be afraid; I will help you. <sup>41:14</sup>Don't be afraid, you worm Ya`akov, and you men of Yisra'el; I will help you, says the LORD, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Yisra'el. ^41:15Behold, I have made you to be a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff. ^41:16You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and you shall rejoice in the LORD, you shall glory in the Holy One of Yisra'el.

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B'rit Hadashah

The Blessing of the B'rit Chadasha
Ba-rooch ah-ta Adonai, Eh-lo-hay-noo meh-lech ha-oh­lahm, ah-shehr na-tahn la-noo ma-she-ahch Yeshua, v’ha-deeb­rote shell Ha-breet Ha-cha-da-sha, ba-rooch ah-ta Adonai, no­tain Ha-breet Ha-cha-da-shah. Blessed are You, O Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, Who has given us Messiah Yeshua and the commandments of the New Covenant. Blessed are You, O Lord, Giver of the New Covenant.

The Acts of Ruach HaKodesh in the Primitive Miqra 7:1-8

^7:1The kohen gadol said, "Are these things so?"

^7:2He said, "Brothers and fathers, listen. The G-d of glory appeared to our father Avraham, when he was in Aram-Naharayim, before he lived in Charan, ^7:3and said to him, 'Get out of your land, and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.' ^7:4Then he came out of the land of the Kasdim, and lived in Charan. From there, when his father was dead, G-d moved him into this land, where you are now living. ^7:5He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he still had no child. ^7:6God spoke in this way: that his seed would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. ^7:7'I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,' said G-d, 'and after that will they come out, and serve me in this place.' ^7:8He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Avraham became the father of Yitzchak, and circumcised him the eighth day. Yitzchak became the father of Ya`akov, and Ya`akov became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Sha'ul’s Letter to the Miqra at Rome  3:19-5:6

^3:19Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of G-d. ^3:20Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. ^3:21But now apart from the law, a righteousness of G-d has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets; ^3:22even the righteousness of G-d through faith in Yeshua the Messiah to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction, ^3:23for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of G-d; ^3:24being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Messiah Yeshua; ^3:25whom G-d set forth to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in G-d's forbearance; ^3:26to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Yeshua.

^3:27Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what manner of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. ^3:28We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. ^3:29Or is G-d the G-d of Yehudim only? Isn't he the G-d of Goyim also? Yes, of Goyim also, ^3:30since indeed there is one G-d who will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith. ^3:31Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.

^4:1What then will we say that Avraham, our forefather, has found according to the flesh? ^4:2For if Avraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward G-d. ^4:3For what does the Scripture say? "Avraham believed G-d, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." ^4:4Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as debt. ^4:5But to him who doesn't work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. ^4:6Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom G-d counts righteousness apart from works,

 ^4:7"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
      Whose sins are covered.

 ^4:8Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin."

^4:9Is this blessing then pronounced on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Avraham for righteousness. ^4:10How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. ^4:11He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them. ^4:12The father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Avraham, which he had in uncircumcision. ^4:13For the promise to Avraham and to his seed that he should be heir of the world wasn't through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. ^4:14For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect. ^4:15For the law works wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience. ^4:16For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Avraham, who is the father of us all. ^4:17As it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations." This is in the presence of him whom he believed: G-d, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were. ^4:18Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, "So will your seed be." ^4:19Without being weakened in faith, he didn't consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. ^4:20Yet, looking to the promise of G-d, he didn't waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to G-d, ^4:21and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. ^4:22Therefore it also was "reckoned to him for righteousness." ^4:23Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone, ^4:24but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Yeshua, our Lord, from the dead, ^4:25who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.

^5:1Being therefore justified by faith, we have shalom with G-d through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah; ^5:2through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of G-d. ^5:3Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering works perseverance; ^5:4and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: ^5:5and hope doesn't disappoint us, because G-d's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. ^5:6For while we were yet weak, at the right time Messiah died for the ungodly. ^5:7For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die. ^5:8But G-d commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.

Sha'ul’s Letter to the Miqra at Galatia  3:15-18; 5:1-6

^3:15Brothers, I speak like men. Though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void, or adds to it. ^3:16Now the promises were spoken to Avraham and to his seed. He doesn't say, "To seeds," as of many, but as of one, "To your seed," which is Messiah. ^3:17Now I say this. A covenant confirmed beforehand by G-d in Messiah, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect. ^3:18For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but G-d has granted it to Avraham by promise.

^5:1Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Messiah has made us free, and don't be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. ^5:2Behold, I, Sha'ul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Messiah will profit you nothing. ^5:3Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. ^5:4You are alienated from Messiah, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace. ^5:5For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. ^5:6For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.

Sha'ul’s Letter to the Miqra at Colossae 2:11-15

^2:9For in him all the fullness of the G-dhead dwells bodily, ^2:10and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power; ^2:11in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Messiah; ^2:12having been buried with him in immersion, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of G-d, who raised him from the dead. ^2:13You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ^2:14wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross; ^2:15having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

The Letter to the Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 7:1-19; 11:8-12

^7:1For this Malki-Tzedek, king of Shalem, kohen of El `Elyon, who met Avraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ^7:2to whom also Avraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, king of righteousness, and then also king of Shalem, which is king of shalom; ^7:3without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of G-d), remains a kohen continually. ^7:4Now consider how great this man was, to whom even Avraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth out of the best spoils. ^7:5They indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the kohen's office have a mitzvah to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the loins of Avraham, ^7:6but he whose genealogy is not counted from them has taken tithes of Avraham, and has blessed him who has the promises. ^7:7But without any dispute the less is blessed by the better. ^7:8Here people who die receive tithes, but there one receives tithes of whom it is testified that he lives. ^7:9So to say, through Avraham even Levi, who receives tithes, has paid tithes, ^7:10for he was yet in the loins of his father when Malki-Tzedek met him. ^7:11Now if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people have received the law), what further need was there for another kohen to arise after the order of Malki-Tzedek, and not be called after the order of Aharon? ^7:12For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made also in the law. ^7:13For he of whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. ^7:14For it is evident that our Lord has sprung out of Yehudah, about which tribe Moshe spoke nothing concerning priesthood. ^7:15This is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Malki-Tzedek there arises another kohen, ^7:16who has been made, not after the law of a fleshly mitzvah, but after the power of an endless life: ^7:17for it is testified,

 "You are a kohen forever,
      According to the order of Malki-Tzedek."

^7:18For there is an annulling of a foregoing mitzvah because of its weakness and uselessness ^7:19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw near to G-d.

 ^11:8By faith, Avraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went. ^11:9By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Yitzchak and Ya`akov, the heirs with him of the same promise. ^11:10For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is G-d. ^11:11By faith, even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised. ^11:12Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead.

The Blessing of the Messiah
Ba-rooch ah-ta Adonai Eh-lo-hay-noo, meh-lekh ha-oh-lahm, ah-sher keed-sha-noo beed-va-reh-kha v'na-tahn la-noo et Yeshua M'shee-khay-noo, v'tzee-va-noo l'he-oat oar la-oh-lahm. O-mein. Blessed are You, O Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us in Your Word, and given us us Yeshua, our Messiah, and commanded us to be a light to the world. Amen.

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