Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Jacob Wrestles with God

²² During the night Jacob rose and crossed the Jabbok River at the crossing. He took his 2 wives, his 2 slave girls and his 11 sons with him. ²³ He sent his family and everything he had across the river. ²⁴ But Jacob stayed behind alone. And a man came and wrestled with him until the sun came up. ²⁵ The man saw that he could not defeat Jacob. So he struck Jacob’s hip 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 let you go if you will bless me.”

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

And he answered, “Jacob.”

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel,^[a] because you have wrestled 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 he blessed Jacob there.

³⁰ So Jacob named that place Peniel.^[b] He said, “I have seen God face to face. But my life was saved.” ³¹ Then the sun rose as he was leaving that place. Jacob was limping because of his leg.

The Lord Guards His People

A song for going up to worship.

¹⁴ But you should continue following the teachings that you learned. You know that these teachings are true. And you know you can trust those who taught you. ¹⁵ You have known the Holy Scriptures since you were a child. The Scriptures are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching how to live right. ¹⁷ Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be ready and will have everything he needs 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 who are living and all who have died. Jesus has a kingdom, and he is coming again. So I give you this command: ² Preach the Good News. Be ready at all times. Tell people what they need to do, tell them when they are wrong, and encourage them. Do these things with great patience and careful teaching. ³ The time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching. They will find more and more teachers who are pleasing to them, teachers who say the things they want to hear. ⁴ They 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 used this story to teach his followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. 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 widow who kept coming to this judge. She said, ‘There is a man who is not being fair to me. Give me my rights!’ ⁴ But the judge did not want to help the widow. After a long time, he thought to himself, ‘I don’t care about God. And I don’t care about what people think. ⁵ But this widow is bothering me. I will see that she gets her rights, or she will bother me until I am worn out!’”

⁶ The Lord said, “Listen to what the bad judge said. ⁷ God’s people cry to him night and day. God will always give them what is right, and 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 those on earth who believe in him?”