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.
Sarai and Hagar
16 Now (A)Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him a child, but she had (B)an Egyptian slave woman whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. (C)Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will [a]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 And so after Abram had lived (D)ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. 4 Then he had relations with Hagar, and she conceived; and when Hagar became aware that she had conceived, her mistress was insignificant in her sight. 5 So Sarai said to Abram, “(E)May the wrong done to me be upon you! I put my slave woman into your [b]arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was insignificant in her [c]sight. (F)May the Lord judge between [d]you and me.” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave woman is in your [e]power; do to her what is good in your [f]sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and (G)she fled from her presence.
Abraham’s Justification by Faith
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, [a]our forefather (A)according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified [b]by works, he has something to boast about; but (B)not [c]before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “(C)Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who (D)works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but (E)believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “(F)Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,
And whose sins have been covered.
8 (G)Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not (H)take into account.”
9 Is this blessing then on [d](I)the circumcised, or on [e]the uncircumcised also? For (J)we say, “(K)Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” 10 How then was it credited? While he was [f]circumcised, or [g]uncircumcised? Not while [h]circumcised, but while [i]uncircumcised; 11 and he (L)received the sign of circumcision, (M)a seal of the righteousness of the faith which [j]he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be (N)the father of (O)all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which [k]he had while uncircumcised.
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