Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Work with Israel
105 O give thanks to the Lord. Call on His name. Make His works known among the people. 2 Sing to Him. Sing praises to Him. Tell of all His great works. 3 Honor His holy name. Let the heart of those who look to the Lord be glad. 4 Look for the Lord and His strength. Look for His face all the time. 5 Remember the great and powerful works that He has done. Keep in mind what He has decided and told us, 6 O children of His servant Abraham, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! 7 He is the Lord our God. What He has decided is in all the earth.
8 He has remembered His agreement forever, the promise He made to last through a thousand families-to-come, 9 the agreement that He made with Abraham, and His promise to Isaac. 10 He gave it to Jacob as a Law, to Israel as an agreement that will last forever. 11 He said, “I will give the land of Canaan to you as your share,”
45 so that they might do what He told them and keep His Law. Praise the Lord!
Jacob’s Children
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, He made her able to give birth. But Rachel could not give birth. 32 Leah was able to have a child and she gave birth to a son. She gave him the name Reuben. For she said, “The Lord has seen my trouble. Now my husband will love me.” 33 Then she was going to have another child and she gave birth to a son. She said, “The Lord has given me this son also, because He has heard that I am not loved.” So she gave him the name Simeon. 34 She was going to have another child and she gave birth to a son. She said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me because I have given birth to his three sons.” So she gave him the name Levi. 35 She was going to have another child and she gave birth to a son. And she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she gave him the name of Judah. Then she stopped giving birth.
30 When Rachel saw that she had not given birth to any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I am going to die!” 2 Then Jacob became angry with Rachel. He said, “Am I taking God’s place, Who has kept you from giving birth?” 3 Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, the woman who serves me. Go in to her, and let her give birth for me. Even I may have children through her.” 4 So she gave Bilhah to him for a wife, the woman who served her. And Jacob went in to her. 5 Bilhah was going to have a child and she gave birth to a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has done the right thing for me. He has heard my voice and has given me a son.” So she gave him the name Dan. 7 Bilhah, the woman who served Rachel, was going to have another child. And she gave birth to another son for Jacob. 8 So Rachel said, “I have fought a hard fight with my sister, and I have won.” She gave him the name Naphtali.
9 Leah saw that she had stopped giving birth. So she took Zilpah, the woman who served her, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 And a son was born to Jacob through Zilpah, the woman who served Leah. 11 Then Leah said, “Good things have happened to me!” So she gave him the name Gad. 12 A second son was born to Jacob through Zilpah, the woman who served Leah. 13 Then Leah said, “I am happy! For women will say that I am happy.” So she gave him the name Asher.
14 During the time of gathering grain, Reuben went out in the field and found some fruit. He brought it to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s fruit.” 15 But Leah said, “Is it not enough to take my husband? Would you take my son’s fruit also?” So Rachel said, “Jacob may lie with you tonight if you give me your son’s fruit.”
16 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went to meet him. She said, “You must sleep with me tonight. For I have paid for you with my son’s fruit.” So he lay with her that night. 17 And God heard Leah and she gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my pay because I gave my husband the woman who serves me.” So she gave him the name Issachar. 19 Leah was going to have another child and she gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. 20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will live with me, because I have given birth to six sons.” So she gave him the name of Zebulun. 21 Later she gave birth to a daughter, and gave her the name Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel. God listened to her, and made her able to have a child, 23 and she gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” 24 She gave him the name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord give me another son.”
Jesus Tells about Jonah (A)
38 Then some of the teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers said to Jesus, “Teacher, we would like to have you do something special for us to see.” 39 He said to them, “The sinful people of this day look for something special to see. There will be nothing special to see but the powerful works of the early preacher Jonah. 40 Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of a big fish. The Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the grave also. 41 The men of the city of Nineveh will stand up with the people of this day on the day men stand before God. Those men will say these people are guilty because the men of Nineveh were sorry for their sins and turned from them when Jonah preached. And see, Someone greater than Jonah is here!
42 “The queen of the south will stand up with the people of this day on the day men stand before God. She will say that these people are guilty because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wise sayings of Solomon. And see, Someone greater than Solomon is here!
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