Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 105[a]
105 Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on his name.
Make known his accomplishments among the nations.
2 Sing to him.
Make music to him.
Tell about all his miraculous deeds.
3 Boast about his holy name.
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Seek the Lord and the strength he gives.
Seek his presence continually.
5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,
his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed,[b]
6 O children[c] of Abraham,[d] God’s[e] servant,
you descendants[f] of Jacob, God’s[g] chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God;
he carries out judgment throughout the earth.[h]
8 He always remembers his covenantal decree,
the promise he made[i] to a thousand generations—
9 the promise[j] he made to Abraham,
the promise he made by oath to Isaac.
10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as a lasting promise,[k]
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
45 so that they might keep his commands
and obey[a] his laws.
Praise the Lord.
The Family of Jacob
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved,[a] he enabled her to become pregnant[b] while Rachel remained childless. 32 So Leah became pregnant[c] and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,[d] for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition.[e] Surely my husband will love me now.”
33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved,[f] he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.[g]
34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection,[h] because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi.[i]
35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah.[j] Then she stopped having children.
30 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she[k] became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children[l] or I’ll die!” 2 Jacob became furious[m] with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”[n] 3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Sleep with[o] her so that she can bear[p] children[q] for me[r] and I can have a family through her.”[s]
4 So Rachel[t] gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob slept with[u] her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant[v] and gave Jacob a son.[w] 6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer[x] and given me a son.” That is why[y] she named him Dan.[z]
7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son.[aa] 8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.”[ab] So she named him Naphtali.[ac]
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave[ad] her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son.[ae] 11 Leah said, “How fortunate!”[af] So she named him Gad.[ag]
12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son.[ah] 13 Leah said, “How happy I am,[ai] for women[aj] will call me happy!” So she named him Asher.[ak]
14 At the time[al] of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants[am] in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But Leah replied,[an] “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,”[ao] Rachel said, “he may go to bed with[ap] you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep[aq] with me because I have paid for your services[ar] with my son’s mandrakes.” So he went to bed with[as] her that night. 17 God paid attention[at] to Leah; she became pregnant[au] and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time.[av] 18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward[aw] because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.”[ax] So she named him Issachar.[ay]
19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time.[az] 20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.[ba]
21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God took note of[bb] Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant.[bc] 23 She became pregnant[bd] and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.”[be] 24 She named him Joseph,[bf] saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”
The Sign of Jonah
38 Then some of the experts in the law[a] along with some Pharisees[b] answered him,[c] “Teacher, we want to see a sign[d] from you.” 39 But he answered them,[e] “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish[f] for three days and three nights,[g] so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 41 The people[h] of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them[i]—and now,[j] something greater than Jonah is here! 42 The queen of the South[k] will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon—and now,[l] something greater than Solomon is here!
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