Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 I will go. I will return to my place
until they admit their guilt and seek my face.
In their distress they will earnestly seek me.
Israel’s Need to Return to the Lord
6 Come, let us return to the Lord.
For he has torn us to pieces,
but he will heal us.
He has struck us,
but he will bandage our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us.
On the third day he will raise us up,
so that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord.
Let us pursue knowledge of the Lord.
As surely as the sun rises,
the Lord will appear.
He will come to us like a heavy rain,
like the spring rain that waters the earth.
God’s Grief Over Israel’s Impenitence
4 What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?
What am I going to do with you, Judah?
For your faithfulness[a] is like a morning mist,
like early dew that disappears.
5 That is why I cut them to pieces by means of the prophets.
I killed them with the words of my mouth.
The judgments against you go forth like the light.
6 For I desire mercy,[b] and not sacrifice,
and the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.
The Lord’s Charges Against Them
7 Listen, my people, and let me speak, O Israel.
Then I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
Hypocritical Sacrifices Are Useless
8 It is not because of your sacrifices that I rebuke you
or because of your burnt offerings that are always in front of me.
9 I do not need to take a bull from your barn
or goats from your pens,
10 because every animal in the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand mountains.
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
and everything that moves in the field is with me.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
because the world is mine, and all that fills it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or do I drink the blood of goats?
Sincere Sacrifices Bring Blessing
14 Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of distress.
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.
Abraham Received What God Promised by Faith, Not by Law
13 Indeed, the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not given to Abraham or his descendants through the law, but through the righteousness that is by faith. 14 To be sure, if people are heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. 15 For law brings wrath. (Where there is no law, there is no transgression.) 16 For this reason, the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham’s descendants—not only to the one who is a descendant by law, but also to the one who has the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”[a]
Abraham’s Faith Was a Firm Trust in God’s Promise
In the presence of God, Abraham believed him who makes the dead alive and calls non-existing things so that they exist.[b] 18 Hoping beyond what he could expect, he believed that he would become the father of many nations, just as he was told: “This is how many your descendants will be.”[c] 19 He did not weaken in faith, even though he considered his own body as good as dead (because he was about one hundred years old), and even though he considered Sarah’s womb to be dead. 20 He did not waver in unbelief with respect to God’s promise, but he grew strong in faith, giving glory to God 21 and being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”[d]
23 Now the statement “it was credited to him” was not written for him alone, 24 but also for us to whom it would be credited, namely, to us who believe in the one who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. 25 He was handed over to death because of our trespasses and was raised to life because of our justification.
Calling of Matthew
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth. He said to him, “Follow me.” Matthew got up and followed him.
10 As Jesus was reclining at the table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were actually there too, eating with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “The healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’[a] In fact, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The Daughter of Jairus
18 As he was saying these things to them, there was a ruler who came, bowed down to him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, place your hand on her, and she will live.”
19 Jesus got up and followed him, as did his disciples. 20 Just then, a woman who had been suffering from chronic bleeding for twelve years came up from behind and touched the fringe of his garment. 21 For she had been saying to herself, “If I just touch his garment, I will be healed.”
22 When Jesus turned around and saw her, he said, “Take heart, daughter! Your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.
23 When Jesus came into the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, 24 he said to them, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but is sleeping.”
But they laughed at him.
25 When the crowd was sent out of the house, Jesus went in, took the girl by the hand, and she was raised. 26 News of this went out through the entire region.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.