Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

30 I will praise you, Lord, for you have saved me from my enemies. You refuse to let them triumph over me. ² O Lord my God, I pleaded with you, and you gave me my health again. ³ You brought me back from the brink of the grave, from death itself, and here I am alive!

⁴ Oh, sing to him you saints of his; give thanks to his holy name. ⁵ His anger lasts a moment; his favor lasts for life! Weeping may go on all night, but in the morning there is joy.

^6-7 In my prosperity I said, “This is forever; nothing can stop me now! The Lord has shown me his favor. He has made me steady as a mountain.” Then, Lord, you turned your face away from me and cut off your river of blessings.^[a] Suddenly my courage was gone; I was terrified and panic-stricken. ⁸ I cried to you, O Lord; oh, how I pled: ⁹ “What will you gain, O Lord, from killing me? How can I praise you then to all my friends? How can my dust in the grave speak out and tell the world about your faithfulness? ¹⁰ Hear me, Lord; oh, have pity and help me.” ¹¹ Then he turned my sorrow into joy! He took away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy ¹² so that I might sing glad praises to the Lord instead of lying in silence in the grave. O Lord my God, I will keep on thanking you forever!

18 The Lord appeared again to Abraham while he was living in the oak grove at Mamre. This is the way it happened: One hot summer afternoon as he was sitting in the opening of his tent, ² he suddenly noticed three men coming toward him. He sprang up and ran to meet them and welcomed them.

^3-4 “Sirs,” he said, “please don’t go any farther. Stop awhile and rest here in the shade of this tree while I get water to refresh your feet, ⁵ and a bite to eat to strengthen you. Do stay awhile before continuing your journey.”

“All right,” they said, “do as you have said.”

⁶ Then Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Mix up some pancakes!^[a] Use your best flour, and make enough for the three of them!” ⁷ Then he ran out to the herd and selected a fat calf and told a servant to hurry and butcher it. ⁸ Soon, taking them cheese and milk and the roast veal, he set it before the men and stood beneath the trees beside them as they ate.

¹² Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a dinner,” he said, “don’t invite friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors! For they will return the invitation. ¹³ Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ Then at the resurrection of the godly, God will reward you for inviting those who can’t repay you.”