Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Appears to Abram
17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and announced, “I am God Almighty. Live in constant awareness that I’m always with you,[a] and be blameless. 2 I’ll establish my covenant between me and you, and I’ll greatly increase your numbers.” 3 Then Abram fell to the ground[b] as God continued speaking to him. 4 “Look, I’ve made a covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. 5 Your name is no longer to be Abram.[c] Instead your name will be Abraham,[d] since I’ll make you the father of many nations. 6 I’m going to cause you to have many descendants, and I’ll bring nations from you. Kings will come from you. 7 I’m establishing my covenant between me and you, and with your descendants who come after you, generation after generation, as an eternal covenant, to be your God and your descendants’ God after you.
23 “All who fear the Lord, praise him!
All the seed of Jacob, glorify him!
All the seed of Israel, fear him!
24 For he does not despise nor detest the afflicted person;
he does not hide his face from him,
but he hears him when he cries out to him.”
25 My praise in the great congregation is because of you;
I will pay my vows before those who fear you.[a]
26 The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him,
“May you[b] live forever!”
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord;
all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the Lord.
28 Indeed, the kingdom belongs to the Lord;
he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous people will eat and bow down in submission.
All those who are about to go down to the grave[c]
will bow down in submission,
along with the one who can no longer keep himself alive.
30 Our[d] descendants will serve him,
and that generation will be told about the Lord.
31 They will come and declare his righteousness
to a people yet to be born;
indeed, he has accomplished it!
The Promise Comes through Faith
13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the Law, but through the righteousness produced by faith. 14 For if those who were given the Law[a] are the heirs, then faith is useless and the promise is worthless, 15 for the Law produces wrath. Now where there is no Law, neither can there be any violation of it.
16 Therefore, the promise[b] is based on faith, so that it may be a matter of grace and may be guaranteed for all of Abraham’s[c] descendants—not only for those who were given the Law,[d] but also for those who share the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. 17 As it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations.”[e] Abraham[f] acted in faith when he stood in the presence of God, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that don’t yet exist. 18 Hoping in spite of hopeless circumstances, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,”[g] just as he had been told:[h] “This is how many descendants you will have.”[i] 19 His faith did not weaken when he thought about his own body (which was already[j] as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old) or about Sarah’s inability to have children, 20 nor did he doubt God’s promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, his faith became stronger and he gave glory to God, 21 being absolutely convinced that God would do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”[k]
23 Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for him 24 but also for us. Our faith will be regarded in the same way,[l] if we believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was sentenced to death because of our sins and raised to life to justify us.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection(A)
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man would have to suffer a great deal and be rejected by the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he would be killed, but after three days he would rise again. 32 He was speaking about this matter quite openly.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, Jesus[a] rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan, because you’re not thinking God’s thoughts, but human thoughts!”
34 Then Jesus[b] called the crowd to himself along with his disciples and told them, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me continuously, 35 because whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it. 36 What profit will a person have if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? 37 Indeed, what can a person give in exchange for his life? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes with the holy angels in his Father’s glory.”
Jesus’ Appearance is Changed(A)
2 Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain to be alone with him. His appearance was changed in front of them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone[a] on earth could bleach them. 4 Then Elijah appeared to them, accompanied by Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
5 Then Peter told Jesus, “Rabbi,[b] it’s good that we’re here! Let’s set up three shelters[c]—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 (Peter[d] didn’t know how to respond, because they were terrified.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and overshadowed them. A voice came out of the cloud and said,[e] “This is my Son, whom I love. Keep on listening to him!” 8 Suddenly, as they looked around, they saw no one with them but Jesus alone.
9 On their way down the mountain, Jesus[f] ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
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