Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
113 Hallelujah!
You servants of the Lord, praise him.
Praise the name of the Lord.
2 Thank the name of the Lord now and forever.
3 From where the sun rises to where the sun sets,
the name of the Lord should be praised.
4 The Lord is high above all the nations.
His glory is above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God?
He is seated on his high throne.
6 He bends down to look at heaven and earth.
7 He lifts the poor from the dust.
He lifts the needy from a garbage heap.
8 He seats them with influential people,
with the influential leaders of his people.
9 He makes a woman who is in a childless home
a joyful mother.
Hallelujah!
30 Rachel saw that she could not have children for Jacob, and she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and asked, “Can I take the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”
3 She said, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her. She can have children for me, and I can build a family for myself through her.” 4 So she gave him her slave Bilhah as his wife, and Jacob slept with her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Jacob. 6 Rachel said, “Now God has judged in my favor. He has heard my prayer and has given me a son.” So she named him Dan [He Judges].
7 Rachel’s slave Bilhah became pregnant again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob. 8 Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle [a] with my sister, and I have won!” So she named him Naphtali [My Struggle].
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as his wife. 10 Leah’s slave Zilpah gave birth to a son for Jacob. 11 Leah said, “I’ve been lucky!” So she called him Gad [Luck].
12 Leah’s slave Zilpah gave birth to her second son for Jacob. 13 Leah said, “I’ve been blessed! Women will call me blessed.” So she named him Asher [Blessing].
14 During the wheat harvest Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrakes.[b] He brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 Leah replied, “Isn’t it enough that you took my husband? Are you also going to take my son’s mandrakes?”
Rachel said, “Very well, Jacob can go to bed with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 As Jacob was coming in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You are to sleep with me,” she said. “You are my reward for my son’s mandrakes.” So he went to bed with her that night. 17 God answered Leah’s prayer. She became pregnant and gave birth to her fifth son for Jacob. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my reward because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar [Reward].
19 She became pregnant again and gave birth to her sixth son for Jacob. 20 Leah said, “God has presented me with a beautiful present. This time my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun [Honor].
21 Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel. God answered her prayer and made it possible for her to have children. 23 So she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24 She named him Joseph [May He Give Another] and said, “May the Lord give me another son.”
God’s Spirit Helps Us
18 I consider our present sufferings insignificant compared to the glory that will soon be revealed to us. 19 All creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal who his children are. 20 Creation was subjected to frustration but not by its own choice. The one who subjected it to frustration did so in the hope 21 that it would also be set free from slavery to decay in order to share the glorious freedom that the children of God will have. 22 We know that all creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.
23 However, not only creation groans. We, who have the Spirit as the first of God’s gifts, also groan inwardly. We groan as we eagerly wait for our adoption, the freeing of our bodies ⌞from sin⌟. 24 We were saved with this hope in mind. If we hope for something we already see, it’s not really hope. Who hopes for what can be seen? 25 But if we hope for what we don’t see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26 At the same time the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we don’t know how to pray for what we need. But the Spirit intercedes along with our groans that cannot be expressed in words. 27 The one who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit has in mind. The Spirit intercedes for God’s people the way God wants him to.
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God—those whom he has called according to his plan. 29 This is true because he already knew his people and had already appointed them to have the same form as the image of his Son. Therefore, his Son is the firstborn among many children. 30 He also called those whom he had already appointed. He approved of those whom he had called, and he gave glory to those whom he had approved of.
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