Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

²² During the night, Jacob got up and began moving his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven sons across the Jabbok River at the crossing. ²³ After he sent his family across the river, he sent across everything he had.

The Fight With God

²⁴ Jacob was left alone, and a man came and wrestled with him. The man fought with him until the sun came up. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he touched Jacob’s leg and put it out of joint.

²⁶ Then the man said to Jacob, “Let me go. The sun is coming up.”

But Jacob said, “I will not let you go. You must bless me.”

²⁷ And the man said to him, “What is your name?”

And Jacob said, “My name is Jacob.”

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will not be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel.^[a] I give you this name because you have fought with God and with men, and you have won.”

²⁹ Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”

But the man said, “Why do you ask my name?” Then the man blessed Jacob at that place.

³⁰ So Jacob named that place Peniel.^[b] He said, “At this place, I saw God face to face, but my life was spared.” ³¹ Then the sun came up as Jacob left Peniel. He was limping because of his leg.

A song for going up to the Temple.

¹⁴ But you should continue following the teaching you learned. You know it is true, because you know you can trust those who taught you. ¹⁵ You have known the Holy Scriptures^[a] since you were a child. These Scriptures are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. ¹⁷ Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work.

4 Before God and Jesus Christ, I give you a command. Christ Jesus is the one who will judge all people—those who are living and those who have died. He is coming again to rule in his kingdom. So I give you this command: ² Tell everyone God’s message. Be ready at all times to do whatever is needed. Tell people what they need to do, tell them when they are doing wrong, and encourage them. Do this with great patience and careful teaching.

³ The time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching. But people will find more and more teachers who please them. They will find teachers who say what they want to hear. ⁴ People will stop listening to the truth. They will begin to follow the teaching in false stories. ⁵ But you should control yourself at all times. When troubles come, accept them. Do the work of telling the Good News. Do all the duties of a servant of God.

God Will Answer His People

18 Then Jesus taught the followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. He used this story to teach them: ² “Once there was a judge in a town. He did not care about God. He also did not care what people thought about him. ³ In that same town there was a woman whose husband had died. She came many times to this judge and said, ‘There is a man who is doing bad things to me. Give me my rights!’ ⁴ But the judge did not want to help the woman. After a long time, the judge thought to himself, ‘I don’t care about God. And I don’t care about what people think. ⁵ But this woman is bothering me. If I give her what she wants, then she will leave me alone. But if I don’t give her what she wants, she will bother me until I am sick.’”

⁶ The Lord said, “Listen, there is meaning in what the bad judge said. ⁷ God’s people shout to him night and day, and he will always give them what is right. He will not be slow to answer them. ⁸ I tell you, God will help his people quickly. But when the Son of Man comes again, will he find people on earth who believe in him?”