Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
23 All who worship the Lord,
now praise him!
You belong to Jacob's family
and to the people of Israel,
so fear and honor the Lord!
24 The Lord doesn't hate
or despise the helpless
in all of their troubles.
When I cried out, he listened
and did not turn away.
25 When your people meet,
you will fill my heart
with your praises, Lord,
and everyone will see me
keep my promises to you.
26 The poor will eat and be full,
and all who worship you
will be thankful
and live in hope.
27 Everyone on this earth
will remember you, Lord.
People all over the world
will turn and worship you,
28 because you are in control,
the ruler of all nations.
29 All who are rich
and have more than enough
will bow down to you, Lord.
Even those who are dying
and almost in the grave
will come and bow down.
30 In the future, everyone
will worship and learn
about you, our Lord.
31 People not yet born
will be told,
“The Lord has saved us!”
The Lord's Promise to Abram
15 Later the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision, “Abram, don't be afraid! I will protect you and reward you greatly.”
2 But Abram answered, “Lord All-Powerful, you have given me everything I could ask for, except children. And when I die, Eliezer of Damascus will get all I own.[a] 3 You have not given me any children, and this servant of mine will inherit everything.”
4 The Lord replied, “No, he won't! You will have a son of your own, and everything you have will be his.” 5 (A) Then the Lord took Abram outside and said, “Look at the sky and see if you can count the stars. That's how many descendants you will have.” 6 (B) Abram believed the Lord, so the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.
12 (A) As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and everything became dark and frightening. 13-15 (B) Then the Lord said:
Abram, you will live to an old age and die in peace.
But I solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesn't belong to them. They will be forced into slavery and abused for 400 years. But I will terribly punish the nation that enslaves them, and they will leave with many possessions.
16 Four generations later,[a] your descendants will return here and take this land, because only then will the people who live here[b] be so sinful that they deserve to be punished.
17 Sometime after sunset, when it was very dark, a smoking cooking pot[c] and a flaming fire passed between the two halves of each animal. 18 (C) At that time the Lord made an agreement with Abram and told him:
I will give your descendants the land east of the Shihor River[d] on the border of Egypt as far as the Euphrates River.
God's Way of Accepting People
21 Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets[a] tell how we become acceptable, and it isn't by obeying the Law of Moses. 22 (A) God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. 23 All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. 24 But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. 25-26 (B) God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.
27 What is left for us to brag about? Not a thing! Is it because we obeyed some law? No! It is because of faith. 28 We see that people are acceptable to God because they have faith, and not because they obey the Law. 29 Does God belong only to the Jews? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is! 30 (C) There is only one God, and he accepts Gentiles as well as Jews, simply because of their faith. 31 Do we destroy the Law by our faith? Not at all! We make it even more powerful.
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