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.
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, since her house was built into the town wall where she lived. 16 She told them, “Go out to the hill country, so the search party won’t find you, and hide for three days. After that, you may go on your own way.”
17 The men replied, “We’ll be free from our commitment to you to which you’ve obligated us 18 when we invade the land, if you don’t tie this rope made with red cords in the window through which you let us down, and if you don’t gather your father, your mother, your brothers, and all of the rest of your father’s household into your house. 19 Everyone who leaves through the doors of your house into the street will be responsible for his own death, but we’ll be responsible for anyone who remains with you in the house if even so much as a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you report this incident, we’ll be free from the oath to which you’ve made us swear.”
21 “Since you put it that way,”[a] she replied, “I agree.”[b] After she sent them on their way and they had left, she tied the red cord in the window.
The Scouts Report to Joshua
22 The scouts[c] left for the hill country and remained there for three days until the search party returned. The search party searched the entire road, but was unable to find them. 23 Later, the two men returned from the hill country, crossed over the Jordan River,[d] approached Nun’s son Joshua, and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They reported to Joshua, “The Lord really has given the entire land into our control. The inhabitants of the land have melted away right in front of us!”
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it does not prove itself with actions, is dead.
18 But someone may say, “You have faith, and I have actions.” Show me your faith without any actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions. 19 You believe that there is one God. That’s fine! Even the demons believe that and tremble with fear. 20 Do you want proof, you foolish person, that faith without actions is worthless? 21 Our ancestor Abraham was justified by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar, wasn’t he? 22 You[a] see that his faith worked together with what he did, and by his actions his faith was made complete. 23 And so the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[b] And so he was called God’s friend. 24 You[c] observe that a person is justified through actions and not through faith alone. 25 Likewise, Rahab the prostitute was justified through actions when she welcomed the messengers[d] and sent them away on a different road, wasn’t she? 26 For just as the body without the spirit[e] is dead, so faith without actions is also dead.
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