Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
113 Hallelujah! O servants of Jehovah, praise his name. 2 Blessed is his name forever and forever. 3 Praise him from sunrise to sunset! 4 For he is high above the nations; his glory is far greater than the heavens.
5 Who can be compared with God enthroned on high? 6 Far below him are the heavens and the earth; he stoops to look, 7 and lifts the poor from the dirt and the hungry from the garbage dump, 8 and sets them among princes! 9 He gives children to the childless wife, so that she becomes a happy mother.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord.
19 This is the story of Isaac’s children: 20 Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram. Rebekah was the sister of Laban. 21 Isaac pleaded with Jehovah to give Rebekah a child, for even after many years of marriage[a] she had no children. Then at last she became pregnant. 22 And it seemed as though children were fighting each other inside her!
“I can’t endure this,” she exclaimed. So she asked the Lord about it.
23 And he told her, “The sons in your womb shall become two rival nations. One will be stronger than the other; and the older shall be a servant of the younger!”
24 And sure enough, she had twins. 25 The first was born so covered with reddish hair that one would think he was wearing a fur coat! So they called him “Esau.”[b] 26 Then the other twin was born with his hand on Esau’s heel! So they called him Jacob (meaning “Grabber”). Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
27 As the boys grew, Esau became a skillful hunter, while Jacob was a quiet sort who liked to stay at home. 28 Isaac’s favorite was Esau, because of the venison he brought home, and Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob.
15 Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all,[a] and, in fact, 16 Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. 17 He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. 18 He is the Head of the body made up of his people—that is, his Church—which he began; and he is the Leader of all those who arise from the dead,[b] so that he is first in everything; 19 for God wanted all of himself to be in his Son.
20 It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him—all things in heaven and on earth—for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.