Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Praises to God for Being Saved from Death

116 I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my prayers. ² I will call on Him as long as I live, because He has turned His ear to me. ³ The strings of death are all around me. And the fear of the grave came upon me. I suffered with trouble and sorrow. ⁴ Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I beg You, save my life!”

⁵ The Lord is loving and right. Yes, our God is full of loving-kindness. ⁶ The Lord takes care of the child-like. I was brought down, and He saved me. ⁷ Return to your rest, O my soul. For the Lord has been good to you. ⁸ For You, O Lord, have saved my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. ⁹ I will walk with the Lord in the land of the living.

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a rope through the window. She lived in her house that was built on top of the city wall. ¹⁶ She said to them, “Go to the hill country, or those who are looking for you might find you. For three days hide yourselves there until those who are looking for you return. Then you may go on your way.” ¹⁷ The men said to her, “We will be free from this promise you have made us swear ¹⁸ unless, when we come into the land, you tie this red rope in the window you let us down through. Bring your father and mother, your brothers and all those of your father’s house into your house. ¹⁹ If anyone goes out through the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head. We will not be guilty for his death. But if a hand is laid upon anyone who is with you in the house, his blood will be on our head. ²⁰ And we will be free from the promise you made us swear if you tell anyone what we are doing.” ²¹ She said, “Let it be as you have said.” Then she sent them away, and tied the red rope in the window.

²² They left and came to the hill country and stayed there for three days until those who were looking for them returned. The men had looked for them all along the road, but had not found them. ²³ Then the two men came down from the hill country, crossed over the Jordan, and came to Joshua the son of Nun. They told him all that had happened to them. ²⁴ They said to Joshua, “For sure the Lord has given all the land into our hands. All the people living in the land have become weak with fear because of us.”

¹⁷ A faith that does not do things is a dead faith.

¹⁸ Someone may say, “You have faith, and I do things. Prove to me you have faith when you are doing nothing. I will prove to you I have faith by doing things.” ¹⁹ You believe there is one God. That is good! But even the demons believe that, and because they do, they shake.

²⁰ You foolish man! Do I have to prove to you that faith without doing things is of no use? ²¹ Was not our early father Abraham right with God by what he did? He obeyed God and put his son Isaac on the altar to die. ²² You see his faith working by what he did and his faith was made perfect by what he did. ²³ It happened as the Holy Writings said it would happen. They say, “Abraham put his trust in God and he became right with God.” ^(A) He was called the friend of God. ²⁴ A man becomes right with God by what he does and not by faith only. ²⁵ The same was true with Rahab, the woman who sold the use of her body. She became right with God by what she did in helping the men who had been sent to look through the country and sent them away by another road. ²⁶ The body is dead when there is no spirit in it. It is the same with faith. Faith is dead when nothing is done.