Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
23 You loyal followers of the Lord,[a] praise him.
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him.
All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him.[b]
24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering[c] of the oppressed.[d]
He did not ignore him;[e]
when he cried out to him, he responded.[f]
25 You are the reason I offer praise[g] in the great assembly;
I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers.[h]
26 Let the oppressed eat and be filled.[i]
Let those who seek his help praise the Lord.
May you[j] live forever!
27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him.[k]
Let all the nations[l] worship you.[m]
28 For the Lord is king[n]
and rules over the nations.
29 All the thriving people[o] of the earth will join the celebration and worship;[p]
all those who are descending into the grave[q] will bow before him,
including those who cannot preserve their lives.[r]
30 A whole generation[s] will serve him;
they will tell the next generation about the Lord.[t]
31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds;[u]
they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.[v]
The Birth of Ishmael
16 Now Sarai,[a] Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children,[b] but she had an Egyptian servant[c] named Hagar.[d] 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since[e] the Lord has prevented me from having children, please sleep with[f] my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.”[g] Abram did what[h] Sarai told him.
3 So after Abram had lived[i] in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant,[j] to her husband to be his wife.[k] 4 He slept with[l] Hagar, and she became pregnant.[m] Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai.[n] 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me![o] I gave my servant into your embrace,[p] but when she realized[q] that she was pregnant, she despised me.[r] May the Lord judge between you and me!”[s]
6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your[t] servant is under your authority,[u] do to her whatever you think best.”[v] Then Sarai treated Hagar[w] harshly,[x] so she ran away from Sarai.[y]
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.
6 So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed[h] are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the one[i] against whom the Lord will never count[j] sin.”[k]
9 Is this blessedness[l] then for[m] the circumcision[n] or also for[o] the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”[p] 10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised! 11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised,[q] so that he would become[r] the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised,[s] that they too could have righteousness credited to them. 12 And he is also the father of the circumcised,[t] who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised.[u]
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