Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 113
Praise to the Merciful God
1 Hallelujah!
Give praise, servants of the Lord;
praise the name of the Lord.(A)
2 Let the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and forever.(B)
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
let the name of the Lord be praised.(C)
4 The Lord is exalted above all the nations,(D)
his glory above the heavens.(E)
5 Who is like the Lord our God—
the one enthroned on high,(F)
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?(G)
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the trash heap(H)
8 in order to seat them with nobles—
with the nobles of his people.(I)
9 He gives the childless woman a household,
making her the joyful mother of children.(J)
Hallelujah!
30 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die!” (A) she said to Jacob.
2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God? He has withheld offspring[a] from you!”
3 Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me[b](B) so that through her I too can build a family.” 4 So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; yes, he has heard me and given me a son,” so she named him Dan.[c]
7 Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel said, “In my wrestlings with God,[d] I have wrestled with my sister and won,” and she named him Naphtali.[e]
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” [f] and she named him Gad.[g]
12 When Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 13 Leah said, “I am happy that the women call me happy,”(C) so she named him Asher.[h]
14 Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field.(D) When he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 But Leah replied to her, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes?”
“Well then,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night.
17 God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband,” and she named him Issachar.[i]
19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 “God has given me a good gift,” Leah said. “This time my husband will honor me because I have borne six sons for him,” and she named him Zebulun.[j] 21 Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb.(E) 23 She conceived and bore a son, and she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.”(F) 24 She named him Joseph[k] and said, “May the Lord add another son to me.”(G)
From Groans to Glory
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing(A) with the glory(B) that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation(C) for God’s sons(D) to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected(E) to futility(F)—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it(G)—in the hope 21 that the creation itself(H) will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains(I) until now. 23 Not only that,(J) but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits(K)—we also groan within ourselves,(L) eagerly waiting for adoption,(M) the redemption of our bodies.(N) 24 Now in this hope(O) we were saved, but hope(P) that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 Now if we hope for what we do not see,(Q) we eagerly wait for it with patience.
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should,(R) but the Spirit himself intercedes for us[a](S) with inexpressible groanings. 27 And he who searches our hearts(T) knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
28 We know that all things work together[b] for the good[c] of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.(U) 29 For those he foreknew he also predestined(V) to be conformed to the image of his Son,(W) so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.(X) 30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified;(Y) and those he justified, he also glorified.(Z)
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