Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.
116 (A)I love the Lord, because He (B)hears
My voice and my pleas.
2 Because He has (C)inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
3 The (D)snares of death encompassed me
And the [a]terrors of [b]Sheol [c]came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
4 Then (E)I called upon the name of the Lord:
“Please, Lord, (F)save my [d]life!”
5 (G)Gracious is the Lord, and (H)righteous;
Yes, our God is (I)compassionate.
6 The Lord watches over (J)the simple;
I was (K)brought low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your (L)rest, my soul,
For the Lord has (M)dealt generously with you.
8 For You have (N)rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from stumbling.
9 I shall walk before the Lord
In the [e](O)land of the living.
The Promise to Rahab
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall. 16 And she said to them, “(A)Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not encounter you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.” 17 And the men said to her, “(B)We shall be exempt from this oath [a]to you which you have made us swear, 18 [b]unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and (C)gather into your house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19 And it shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house outside will have [c]his blood on his own head, and we will be innocent; but anyone who is with you in the house, (D)his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be exempt from the oath which you have made us swear.” 21 She then said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 So they departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days, until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had searched for them [d]all along the road, but had not found them. 23 Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country, and they crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun. Then they reported to him all that had happened to them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “The Lord has indeed handed over to us all the land; furthermore, (E)all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of us.”
17 In the same way, (A)faith also, if it has no works, is [a]dead, being by itself.
18 (B)But someone [b]may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your (C)faith without the works, and I will (D)show you my faith (E)by my works.” 19 You believe that [c](F)God is one. (G)You do well; (H)the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to acknowledge, (I)you foolish person, that (J)faith without works is useless? 21 (K)Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that (L)faith was working with his works, and [d]as a result of the (M)works, faith was [e]perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “(N)And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a (O)friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was (P)Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also (Q)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also (R)faith without works is dead.
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