Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Israel’s Failure to Trust God
106 Praise the Lord!
Thank the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
2 No one can tell all the mighty things the Lord has done;
no one can speak all his praise.
3 Happy are those who do right,
who do what is fair at all times.
4 Lord, remember me when you are kind to your people;
help me when you save them.
5 Let me see the good things you do for your chosen people.
Let me be happy along with your happy nation;
let me join your own people in praising you.
6 We have sinned just as our ancestors did.
We have done wrong; we have done evil.
7 Our ancestors in Egypt
did not learn from your miracles.
They did not remember all your kindnesses,
so they turned against you at the Red Sea.
8 But the Lord saved them for his own sake,
to show his great power.
9 He commanded the Red Sea, and it dried up.
He led them through the deep sea as if it were a desert.
10 He saved them from those who hated them.
He saved them from their enemies,
11 and the water covered their foes.
Not one of them escaped.
12 Then the people believed what the Lord said,
and they sang praises to him.
Jacob Tricks Isaac
27 When Isaac was old, his eyesight was poor, so he could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him and said, “Son.”
Esau answered, “Here I am.”
2 Isaac said, “I am old and don’t know when I might die. 3 So take your bow and arrows and go hunting in the field for an animal for me to eat. 4 When you prepare the tasty food that I love, bring it to me, and I will eat. Then I will bless you before I die.” 5 So Esau went out in the field to hunt.
Rebekah was listening as Isaac said this to his son Esau. 6 She said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I heard your father saying to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Kill an animal and prepare some tasty food for me to eat. Then I will bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 8 So obey me, my son, and do what I tell you. 9 Go out to our goats and bring me two of the best young ones. I will prepare them just the way your father likes them. 10 Then you will take the food to your father, and he will bless you before he dies.”
11 But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am smooth! 12 If my father touches me, he will know I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me but will place a curse on me because I tried to trick him.”
13 So Rebekah said to him, “If your father puts a curse on you, I will accept the blame. Just do what I said. Go get the goats for me.”
14 So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother, and she cooked them in the special way Isaac enjoyed. 15 She took the best clothes of her older son Esau that were in the house and put them on the younger son Jacob. 16 She also took the skins of the goats and put them on Jacob’s hands and neck. 17 Then she gave Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18 Jacob went in to his father and said, “Father.”
And his father said, “Yes, my son. Who are you?”
19 Jacob said to him, “I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat some meat of the animal I hunted for you. Then bless me.”
20 But Isaac asked his son, “How did you find and kill the animal so quickly?”
Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God helped me to find it.”
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son. Then I will know if you are really my son Esau.”
22 So Jacob came near to Isaac his father. Isaac touched him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice, but your hands are hairy like the hands of Esau.” 23 Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his hands were hairy like Esau’s hands, so Isaac blessed him. 24 Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
Jacob answered, “Yes, I am.”
25 Then Isaac said, “Bring me the food, and I will eat it and bless you.” So Jacob gave him the food, and he ate. Jacob gave him wine, and he drank. 26 Then Isaac said to him, “My son, come near and kiss me.” 27 So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. When Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes, he blessed him and said,
“The smell of my son
is like the smell of the field
that the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give you plenty of rain
and good soil
so that you will have plenty of grain and new wine.
29 May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
May you be master over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
May everyone who curses you be cursed,
and may everyone who blesses you be blessed.”
Greetings to the Christians
16 I recommend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a helper[a] in the church in Cenchrea. 2 I ask you to accept her in the Lord in the way God’s people should. Help her with anything she needs, because she has helped me and many other people also.
3 Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, who work together with me in Christ Jesus 4 and who risked their own lives to save my life. I am thankful to them, and all the non-Jewish churches are thankful as well. 5 Also, greet for me the church that meets at their house.
Greetings to my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first person in Asia to follow Christ. 6 Greetings to Mary, who worked very hard for you. 7 Greetings to Andronicus and Junia, my relatives, who were in prison with me. They are very important apostles. They were believers in Christ before I was. 8 Greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. 9 Greetings to Urbanus, a worker together with me for Christ. And greetings to my dear friend Stachys. 10 Greetings to Apelles, who was tested and proved that he truly loves Christ. Greetings to all those who are in the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greetings to Herodion, my fellow citizen. Greetings to all those in the family of Narcissus who belong to the Lord. 12 Greetings to Tryphena and Tryphosa, women who work very hard for the Lord. Greetings to my dear friend Persis, who also has worked very hard for the Lord. 13 Greetings to Rufus, who is a special person in the Lord, and to his mother, who has been like a mother to me also. 14 Greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and all the brothers and sisters who are with them. 15 Greetings to Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and to all God’s people with them. 16 Greet each other with a holy kiss. All of Christ’s churches send greetings to you.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.