Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Waw

¹⁰ “I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights, like the first time. The Lord also listened to me at that time. He decided not to destroy you. ¹¹ The Lord said to me, ‘Go and lead the people on their trip. They will go in and live in the land that I promised to give to their ancestors.’

What the Lord Really Wants

¹² “Now, Israelites, listen! What does the Lord your God really want from you? The Lord your God wants you to respect him and do what he says. He wants you to love him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹³ So obey the laws and commands of the Lord that I am giving you today. These laws and commands are for your own good.

¹⁴ “Everything belongs to the Lord your God. The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to him. The earth and everything on it belong to him. ¹⁵ The Lord loved your ancestors very much. He loved them so much that he chose you, their descendants, to be his people. He chose you instead of any other nation, and you are still his chosen people today.

¹⁶ “Stop being stubborn. Give your hearts to God. ¹⁷ The Lord is your God. He is the God of gods and the Lord of lords. He is the great God. He is the amazing and powerful fighter. To him everyone is the same. He does not accept money to change his mind. ¹⁸ He defends widows and orphans. He loves even the strangers living among us. He gives them food and clothes. ¹⁹ So you must also love them, because you yourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt.

²⁰ “You must respect the Lord your God and worship only him. Never leave him. When you make promises, you must use his name only. ²¹ He is the one you should praise. He is your God. He has done great and amazing things for you. You have seen them with your own eyes. ²² When your ancestors went down into Egypt, there were only 70 people. Now the Lord your God has made you as many as the stars in the sky.

Faith and Good Works

¹⁴ My brothers and sisters, if a person claims to have faith but does nothing, that faith is worth nothing. Faith like that cannot save anyone. ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or sister in Christ comes to you in need of clothes or something to eat. ¹⁶ And you say to them, “God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat,” but you don’t give them the things they need. If you don’t help them, your words are worthless. ¹⁷ It is the same with faith. If it is just faith and nothing more—if it doesn’t do anything—it is dead.

¹⁸ But someone might argue, “Some people have faith, and others have good works.” My answer would be that you can’t show me your faith if you don’t do anything. But I will show you my faith by the good I do. ¹⁹ You believe there is one God. That’s good, but even the demons believe that! And they shake with fear.

²⁰ You fool! Faith that does nothing is worth nothing. Do you want me to prove this to you? ²¹ Our father Abraham was made right with God by what he did. He offered his son Isaac to God on the altar. ²² So you see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was made perfect by what he did. ²³ This shows the full meaning of the Scriptures that say, “Abraham believed God, and because of this faith he was accepted as one who is right with God.”^[a] Abraham was called “God’s friend.”^{[b] 24} So you see that people are made right with God by what they do. They cannot be made right by faith alone.

²⁵ Another example is Rahab. She was a prostitute, but she was made right with God by something she did. She helped those who were spying for God’s people. She welcomed them into her home and helped them escape by a different road.^[c]

²⁶ A person’s body that does not have a spirit is dead. It is the same with faith—faith that does nothing is dead!