Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

2 And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart rejoiceth in the Lord; mine horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in Thy salvation.

² There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none besides Thee; neither is there any rock like our God.

³ Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.

⁴ “The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

⁵ They that were full have hired out themselves for bread, and they that were hungry ceased hungering, so that the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.

⁶ “The Lord killeth and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up.

⁷ The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich; He bringeth low and lifteth up.

⁸ He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’S, and He hath set the world upon them.

⁹ “He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

¹⁰ The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall He thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and He shall give strength unto His king and exalt the horn of His anointed.”

¹⁵ And God said unto Abraham, “As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

¹⁶ And I will bless her and give thee a son also by her. Yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?”

¹⁸ And Abraham said unto God, “O that Ishmael might live before Thee!”

¹⁹ And God said, “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

²¹ But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.”

²² And He left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

⁸ However that be, then when ye knew not God, ye did service unto those which by nature are not gods.

⁹ But now after ye have known God, or rather are known by God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements unto which ye desire again to be in bondage?

¹⁰ Ye observe days and months and times and years.

¹¹ I am afraid for you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.

¹² Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am, for I am as ye are. Ye have not injured me at all.

¹³ Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the Gospel unto you at the first.

¹⁴ And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected, but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ Where is then the blessedness ye spoke of? For I bear you record that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes and have given them to me.

¹⁶ Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?

¹⁷ They zealously seek after you, but for no good; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might seek after them.

¹⁸ But it is good to be zealously sought after, always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.

¹⁹ My little children, over whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

²⁰ I desire to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I stand in doubt of you.