Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Helps the Poor

113 Praise the Lord! Praise Him, O you who serve the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. ² Let the name of the Lord be honored, now and forever. ³ The name of the Lord is to be praised from the time the sun rises to when it sets. ⁴ The Lord is high above all nations. His shining-greatness is above the heavens.

⁵ Who is like the Lord our God? He sits on His throne on high. ⁶ He looks down upon the heavens and the earth. ⁷ He raises the poor from the dust. He lifts those in need from the ashes. ⁸ He makes them sit with rulers, with the rulers of His people. ⁹ He gives a home to the woman who could not give birth and makes her the mother of children. Praise the Lord!

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.”

¹⁸ I am sure that our suffering now cannot be compared to the shining-greatness that He is going to give us. ¹⁹ Everything that has been made in the world is waiting for the day when God will make His sons known. ²⁰ Everything that has been made in the world is weak. It is not that the world wanted it to be that way. God allowed it to be that way. Yet there is hope. ²¹ Everything that has been made in the world will be set free from the power that can destroy. These will become free just as the children of God become free. ²² We know that everything on the earth cries out with pain the same as a woman giving birth to a child. ²³ We also cry inside ourselves, even we who have received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the first of God’s gifts to us. We are waiting to become His complete sons when our bodies are made free. ²⁴ We were saved with this hope ahead of us. Now hope means we are waiting for something we do not have. How can a man hope for something he already has? ²⁵ But if we hope for something we do not yet see, we must learn how to wait for it.

²⁶ In the same way, the Holy Spirit helps us where we are weak. We do not know how to pray or what we should pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays to God for us with sounds that cannot be put into words. ²⁷ God knows the hearts of men. He knows what the Holy Spirit is thinking. The Holy Spirit prays for those who belong to Christ the way God wants Him to pray.

²⁸ We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are chosen to be a part of His plan. ²⁹ God knew from the beginning who would put their trust in Him. So He chose them and made them to be like His Son. Christ was first and all those who belong to God are His brothers. ³⁰ He called to Himself also those He chose. Those He called, He made right with Himself. Then He shared His shining-greatness with those He made right with Himself.