Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Obedience of Abram
12 Now the Lord said[a] to Abram,[b]
“Go out[c] from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household
to the land that I will show you.[d]
2 Then I will make you[e] into a great nation, and I will bless you,[f]
and I will make your name great,[g]
so that you will exemplify divine blessing.[h]
3 I will bless those who bless you,[i]
but the one who treats you lightly[j] I must curse,
so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing[k] through you.”
4 So Abram left,[l] just as the Lord had told him to do,[m] and Lot went with him. (Now[n] Abram was 75 years old[o] when he departed from Haran.)
Psalm 121[a]
A song of ascents.[b]
121 I look up[c] toward the hills.
From where[d] does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,[e]
the Creator[f] of heaven and earth.
3 May he not allow your foot to slip.
May your Protector[g] not sleep.[h]
4 Look! Israel’s Protector[i]
does not sleep or slumber.
5 The Lord is your protector;
the Lord is the shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
or the moon by night.[j]
7 The Lord will protect you from all harm;
he will protect your life.
8 The Lord will protect you in all you do,[k]
now and forevermore.
The Illustration of Justification
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh,[a] has discovered regarding this matter?[b] 2 For if Abraham was declared righteous[c] by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited[d] to him as righteousness.”[e] 4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation.[f] 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous,[g] his faith is credited as righteousness.
13 For the promise[a] to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified.[b] 15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression[c] either. 16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace,[d] with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants—not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham,[e] who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”).[f] He is our father[g] in the presence of God whom he believed—the God who[h] makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do.[i]
Conversation with Nicodemus
3 Now a certain man, a Pharisee[a] named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council,[b] 2 came to Jesus[c] at night[d] and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs[e] that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus replied,[f] “I tell you the solemn truth,[g] unless a person is born from above,[h] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”[i] 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?”[j]
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth,[k] unless a person is born of water and spirit,[l] he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh,[m] and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all[n] be born from above.’[o] 8 The wind[p] blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”[q]
9 Nicodemus replied,[r] “How can these things be?”[s] 10 Jesus answered,[t] “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things?[u] 11 I tell you the solemn truth,[v] we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but[w] you people[x] do not accept our testimony.[y] 12 If I have told you people[z] about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?[aa] 13 No one[ab] has ascended[ac] into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.[ad] 14 Just as[ae] Moses lifted up the serpent[af] in the wilderness,[ag] so must the Son of Man be lifted up,[ah] 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”[ai]
16 For this is the way[aj] God loved the world: He gave his one and only[ak] Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish[al] but have eternal life.[am] 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,[an] but that the world should be saved through him.
The Transfiguration
17 Six days later[a] Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James,[b] and led them privately up a high mountain. 2 And he was transfigured before them.[c] His[d] face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 Then Moses[e] and Elijah[f] also appeared before them, talking with him. 4 So[g] Peter said[h] to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make[i] three shelters[j]—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a[k] bright cloud[l] overshadowed[m] them, and a voice from the cloud said,[n] “This is my one dear Son,[o] in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!”[p] 6 When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.[q] 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Do not be afraid.” 8 When[r] they looked up, all they saw was Jesus alone.
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them,[s] “Do not tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
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