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O people, your Lord is one and your father Adam is one. There is no virtue of an Arab over a foreigner nor a foreigner over an Arab, and neither white skin over black skin nor black skin over white skin, except by righteousness. Have I not delivered the message?
Question: What is the complete reference for Musnad Ahmed Hadith 22978, and any other occurrences?
The hadith you are referring to is sahih (authentic), and was documented in Musnad Ahmad, Musnad Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (Hadith 239), Sho'ab Al-Eeman (Hadith 4760), Musnad al-Harith (Hadith 49), among other books. Its full text is:
حدثنا إسماعيل حدثنا سعيد الجريري عن أبي نضرة حدثني من سمع خطبة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في وسط أيام التشريق فقال
NOTE: My own translation, so treat with care:
Narrated by Isma'il through Sa'il al-Jurairi through Abi Nadra through those who listened to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the middle of the days of tashriq, that he Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
يا أيها الناس ألا إن ربكم واحد وإن أباكم واحد ـ ألا لا فضل لعربي على أعجمي ولا لعجمي على عربي ولا لأحمر على أسود ولا أسود على أحمر إلا بالتقوى ـ أبلغت؟
"O' people, your Lord is one, and your father is one. There is no virtue far an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a non-Arab over an Arab, and neither for a red-skin [person] over a black-skin [person], nor for a black-skin [person] over a red-skin [person], except by righteousness. Have I delivered the message?"
قالوا بلغ رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
They said: "The Prophet ﷺ has delivered the message."
ثم قال أي يوم هذا قالوا يوم حرام ثم قال أي شهر هذا قالوا شهر حرام قال ثم قال أي بلد هذا قالوا بلد حرام
Then the Prophet ﷺ asked: "Which day is this?" They replied: "A sacred day." The Prophet ﷺ asked: "Which month is this?" They replied: "A sacred month." The Prophet ﷺ asked: "Which town is this?" They replied: "A sacred town."
Delivering the sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage on the day of Sacrifice at Mina, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Verily your blood, your property and your honor are as sacred and inviolable as the sanctity of this day of yours, in this month of yours and in this town of yours. Verily! I have conveyed this message to you."
قال فإن الله قد حرم بينكم دماءكم وأموالكم
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Verily Allah has declared your blood and your money inviolable ..."
قال ولا أدري قال أو أعراضكم أم لا
The narrator said: "And I do not know if he said your honors or not."
كحرمة يومكم هذا في شهركم هذا في بلدكم هذا ـ أبلغت؟
"... as the sanctity of your [sacred] day in your [sacred] month in your [sacred] town. Verily! I have conveyed this message to you. Have I delivered the message?"
قالوا بلغ رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
They said: "The Prophet ﷺ has delivered the message."
قال ليبلغ الشاهد الغائب
The Prophet ﷺ said: "May those who are present inform those who are absent."
The chain of narration is Munthir ibn Malik (Arabic: منذر بن مالك), also known as Abu Nadra, through Sa'd ibn Eyas al-Jurairi (Arabic: سعيد بن إياس الجريري) through Isma'il ibn Ibrahim (Arabic: إسماعيل بن إبراهيم). The chain is all trusted people, and have been quoted by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih; save for Munthir ibn Malik, whom Al-Bukhari quoted in his mu'allaq (suspended) hadiths, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani authenticated through his book Taghliq al-Ta'liq 'ala Sahih al-Bukhari (Arabic: تغليق التعليق على صحيح البخاري). The hadith is authentic through this chain of narration.
Note: There are multiple other narration chains, some of which are sahih (authentic), some are hassan (good), some are da'eef (weak), and some are mursal (severed). The chain above is the one in Musnad Ahmad that you asked about.
