Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
23 (A)You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
All you [a]descendants of Jacob, (B)glorify Him,
And (C)stand in awe of Him, all you [b]descendants of Israel.
24 For He has (D)not despised nor scorned the suffering of the afflicted;
Nor has He (E)hidden His face from him;
But (F)when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
25 From You comes (G)my praise in the great assembly;
I shall (H)pay my vows before those who fear Him.
26 The [c]afflicted will eat and (I)be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will (J)praise the Lord.
May your (K)heart live forever!
27 All the (L)ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the (M)families of the nations will worship before [d]You.
28 For the (N)kingdom is the Lord’s
And He (O)rules over the nations.
29 All the [e](P)prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who (Q)go down to the dust will kneel before Him,
Even he who [f](R)cannot keep his soul alive.
30 A [g](S)posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to (T)the coming generation.
31 They will come and (U)will declare His righteousness
To a people (V)who will be born, that He has performed it.
Abram Promised a Son
15 After these things (A)the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
2 But Abram said, “Lord [b]God, what will You give me, since I [c]am childless, and the [d]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram also said, “[e]Since You have given me no [f]son, [g]one who has been (E)born in my house is my heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; (F)but one who will come from your own [h]body shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and (G)count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “(H)So shall your [i]descendants be.” 6 (I)Then he believed in the Lord; and He [j]credited it to him as righteousness.
12 Now when the sun was going down, (A)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, [a]terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that (B)your [b]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, [c]where (C)they will be enslaved and oppressed for (D)four hundred years. 14 But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out (E)with [d]many possessions. 15 As for you, (F)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16 Then in (G)the fourth generation they will return here, for (H)the wrongdoing of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
17 Now it came about, when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch appeared which (I)passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
Justification by Faith
21 But now apart [a]from the Law (A)the righteousness of God has been revealed, being (B)witnessed by the [b]Law and the Prophets, 22 but it is the (C)righteousness of God through (D)faith (E)in Jesus Christ for (F)all those [c]who believe; for (G)there is no distinction, 23 for all [d](H)have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift (I)by His grace through (J)the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as (K)a [e]propitiation [f](L)in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, [g]because in God’s merciful (M)restraint He (N)let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who [h]has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is (O)boasting? It has been excluded. By (P)what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 [i]For (Q)we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works [j]of the Law. 29 Or (R)is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed (S)God (T)who will justify the [k]circumcised [l]by faith and the [m]uncircumcised through faith (U)is one.
31 Do we then nullify [n]the Law through faith? (V)Far from it! On the contrary, we (W)establish the Law.
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