Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

111 ^1-2 Hallelujah! I want to express publicly before his people my heartfelt thanks to God for his mighty miracles. All who are thankful should ponder them with me. ³ For his miracles demonstrate his honor, majesty, and eternal goodness.

⁴ Who can forget the wonders he performs—deeds of mercy and of grace? ⁵ He gives food to those who trust him; he never forgets his promises. ⁶ He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the land of Israel, though it was the home of many nations living there. ⁷ All he does is just and good, and all his laws are right, ⁸ for they are formed from truth and goodness and stand firm forever. ⁹ He has paid a full ransom for his people; now they are always free to come to Jehovah (what a holy, awe-inspiring name that is).

¹⁰ How can men be wise? The only way to begin is by reverence for God. For growth in wisdom comes from obeying his laws. Praise his name forever.

^23-25 “At that time I made this plea to God: ‘O Lord God, please let me cross over into the Promised Land—the good land beyond the Jordan River with its rolling hills—and Lebanon. I want to see the result of all the greatness and power you have been showing us; for what God in all of heaven or earth can do what you have done for us?’

²⁶ “But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not let me cross over. ‘Speak of it no more,’ he ordered, ²⁷ ‘but go to the top of Mount Pisgah where you can look out in every direction, and there you will see the land in the distance. But you shall not cross the Jordan River. ²⁸ Commission Joshua to replace you, and then encourage him, for he shall lead the people across to conquer the land you will see from the mountaintop.’

²⁹ “So we remained in the valley near Beth-peor.

⁶ Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promises to the Jews? No! For these promises are only to those who are truly Jews.^[a] And not everyone born into a Jewish family is truly a Jew! ⁷ Just the fact that they come from Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say that the promises apply only to Abraham’s son Isaac and Isaac’s descendants, though Abraham had other children too. ⁸ This means that not all of Abraham’s children are children of God, but only those who believe the promise of salvation which he made to Abraham.

⁹ For God had promised, “Next year I will give you and Sarah a son.” ^10-13 And years later, when this son Isaac was grown up and married and Rebecca his wife was about to bear him twin children, God told her that Esau, the child born first, would be a servant to Jacob, his twin brother. In the words of the Scripture, “I chose to bless Jacob but not Esau.” And God said this before the children were even born, before they had done anything either good or bad. This proves that God was doing what he had decided from the beginning; it was not because of what the children did but because of what God wanted and chose.

¹⁴ Was God being unfair? Of course not. ¹⁵ For God had said to Moses, “If I want to be kind to someone, I will. And I will take pity on anyone I want to.” ¹⁶ And so God’s blessings are not given just because someone decides to have them or works hard to get them. They are given because God takes pity on those he wants to.

¹⁷ Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was an example of this fact. For God told him he had given him the kingdom of Egypt for the very purpose of displaying the awesome power of God against him, so that all the world would hear about God’s glorious name.^{[b] 18} So you see, God is kind to some just because he wants to be, and he makes some refuse to listen.