Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Thanksgiving for Escaping Death
116 I love the Lord,
because he listens to my prayers for help.
2 He paid attention to me,
so I will call to him for help as long as I live.
3 The ropes of death bound me,
and the fear of the grave took hold of me.
I was troubled and sad.
4 Then I called out the name of the Lord.
I said, “Please, Lord, save me!”
5 The Lord is kind and does what is right;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord watches over the foolish;
when I was helpless, he saved me.
7 I said to myself, “Relax,
because the Lord takes care of you.”
8 Lord, you saved me from death.
You stopped my eyes from crying;
you kept me from being defeated.
9 So I will walk with the Lord
in the land of the living.
15 The house Rahab lived in was built on the city wall, so she used a rope to let the men down through a window. 16 She said to them, “Go into the hills so the king’s men will not find you. Hide there for three days. After the king’s men return, you may go on your way.”
17 The men said to her, “You must do as we say. If not, we cannot be responsible for keeping this oath you have made us swear. 18 When we return to this land, you must tie this red rope in the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, mother, brothers, and all your family into your house. 19 If anyone leaves your house and is killed, it is his own fault. We cannot be responsible for him. If anyone in your house is hurt, we will be responsible. 20 But if you tell anyone about this, we will be free from the oath you made us swear.”
21 Rahab answered, “I agree to this.” So she sent them away, and they left. Then she tied the red rope in the window.
22 The men left and went into the hills where they stayed for three days. The king’s men looked for them all along the road, but after three days, they returned to the city without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They left the hills and crossed the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said, “The Lord surely has given us all of the land. All the people in that land are terribly afraid of us.”
17 In the same way, faith by itself—that does nothing—is dead.
18 Someone might say, “You have faith, but I have deeds.” Show me your faith without doing anything, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe there is one God. Good! But the demons believe that, too, and they tremble with fear.
20 You foolish person! Must you be shown that faith that does nothing is worth nothing? 21 Abraham, our ancestor, was made right with God by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. 22 So you see that Abraham’s faith and the things he did worked together. His faith was made perfect by what he did. 23 This shows the full meaning of the Scripture that says: “Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.”[a] And Abraham was called God’s friend.[b] 24 So you see that people are made right with God by what they do, not by faith only.
25 Another example is Rahab, a prostitute, who was made right with God by something she did. She welcomed the spies into her home and helped them escape by a different road.
26 Just as a person’s body that does not have a spirit is dead, so faith that does nothing is dead!
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.