Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Praise the Lord for All He Has Done

The Lord Promises Abraham a Son

18 One hot summer afternoon while Abraham was sitting by the entrance to his tent near the sacred trees of Mamre, the Lord appeared to him. ^2 (A) Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He quickly ran to meet them, bowed with his face to the ground, ³ and said, “Please come to my home where I can serve you. ⁴ I'll have some water brought, so you can wash your feet, then you can rest under a tree. ⁵ Let me get you some food to give you strength before you leave. I would be honored to serve you.”

“Thank you very much,” they answered. “We accept your offer.”

⁶ Abraham went quickly to his tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get a large sack of flour and make some bread.” ⁷ After saying this, he rushed off to his herd of cattle and picked out one of the best calves, which his servant quickly prepared. ⁸ He then served his guests some yogurt and milk together with the meat.

While they were eating, he stood near them under the tree, ⁹ and they asked, “Where's your wife Sarah?”

“She is right there in the tent,” Abraham answered.

^10 (B) One of the guests was the Lord, and he said, “I'll come back about this time next year, and when I do, Sarah will already have a son.”

Sarah was behind Abraham, listening at the entrance to the tent. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was well past the age for having children. ^12 (C) So she laughed and said to herself, “Now that I am worn out and my husband is old, will I really know such happiness?”^[a]

¹³ The Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Does she doubt that she can have a child in her old age? ^14 (D) I am the Lord! There is nothing too difficult for me. I'll come back next year at the time I promised, and Sarah will already have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah was so frightened that she lied and said, “I didn't laugh.”

“Yes, you did!” he answered.

Paul Gives Thanks for the Gifts He Was Given

¹⁰ The Lord has made me very grateful that at last you have thought about me once again. Actually, you were thinking about me all along, but you didn't have any chance to show it. ¹¹ I am not complaining about having too little. I have learned to be satisfied with^[a] whatever I have. ¹² I know what it is to be poor or to have plenty, and I have lived under all kinds of conditions. I know what it means to be full or to be hungry, to have too much or too little. ¹³ Christ gives me the strength to face anything.

¹⁴ It was good of you to help me when I was having such a hard time. ^15 (A) My friends at Philippi, you remember what it was like when I started preaching the good news in Macedonia.^[b] After I left there, you were the only church that became my partner by giving blessings and by receiving them in return. ^16 (B) Even when I was in Thessalonica, you helped me more than once. ¹⁷ I am not trying to get something from you, but I want you to receive the blessings that come from giving.

^18 (C) I have been paid back everything, and with interest. I am completely satisfied with the gifts you sent with Epaphroditus. They are like a sweet-smelling offering or like the right kind of sacrifice that pleases God. ¹⁹ I pray that God will take care of all your needs with the wonderful blessings that come from Christ Jesus! ²⁰ May God our Father be praised forever and ever. Amen.