Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God, My Deliverer
116 I love the Lord
because he has heard my prayer for mercy;[a]
2 for he listens to me whenever I call.
3 The ropes of death were wound around me
and the anguish of Sheol[b] came upon me;
I encountered distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord,
“Lord, please deliver me!”[c]
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is compassionate;
6 the Lord watches over the innocent;[d]
I was brought low, and he delivered me.
7 Return to your resting place, my soul,
for the Lord treated you generously.
8 Indeed, you delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from crying,[e]
and my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk in the Lord’s presence
in the lands of the living.
Rahab Receives Two Scouts
2 After this, Nun’s son Joshua sent two men from the Acacia groves[a] as undercover scouts. He told them, “Go and look over the land. Pay special attention to Jericho.” So they went out, came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and lodged there.
2 Then the king of Jericho was told, “Look! Israeli men arrived tonight to scout out the land.”
3 So the king of Jericho sent for Rahab and ordered her, “Bring out the men who came to visit you and lodged in your house, because they’ve come to scout out the entire land.”
4 Now the woman had taken the two men and hid them. So she replied, “The men really did come to me, but I didn’t know from where they came. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gates, the men left. I don’t know where the men went. Go after them quickly, and[b] you might overtake them.”
6 But she had taken them up to the roof and had hidden them among stalks of flax that she had laid out in order on the roof. 7 So the men pursued them along the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan River. As soon as the search party had left, they shut the city gate after them.
Rahab Seeks Protection
8 Before the scouts[c] had lain down, she went up to them on the roof 9 “I’m really convinced that the Lord has given you the land,” she said,[d] “because we’re overwhelmed with fear of you. All the other inhabitants of the land are demoralized at your presence, 10 because we heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Reed[e] Sea right in front of you as you were coming out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other[f] side of the Jordan River—to Sihon and Og—whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard these reports,[g] we all became terrified and discouraged[h] because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, since I’ve treated you so kindly,[i] please swear in the name of[j] the Lord that you’ll also be kind[k] to my father’s household by giving me this[l] sure sign: 13 Spare my father, my mother, and my brothers and sisters, along with everyone who belongs with them so we won’t be killed.”
A Promise of Protection
14 So the men told her, “Our life for yours—even to death—if you don’t betray this mission of ours. Then when the Lord gives us this land, we’ll treat you graciously and faithfully.”
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered Isaac—he who had received the promises was about to offer his unique son[a] in sacrifice, 18 about whom it had been said, “It is through Isaac that descendants will be named for you.”[b] 19 Abraham[c] was certain that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did get Isaac[d] back in this way.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons “and worshipped while leaning[e] on the top of his staff.”
22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelis and gave them instructions about burying[f] his bones.
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