Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Solomon’s Prayer

²² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord. And in front of all the people of Israel he lifted his hands toward heaven. ²³ He said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below. You are keeping Your agreement and are showing loving-kindness to Your servants who walk in Your ways with all their heart.

⁴¹ “When a stranger who is not of Your people Israel comes from a far country because of You, ⁴² (for they will hear of Your great name and Your powerful hand and Your long arm,) when he comes and prays toward this house, ⁴³ hear in heaven where You are. Do all the stranger asks of You. So all the peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel. Then they may know that this house I have built is called by Your name.

A Call to Worship the Lord

96 Sing to the Lord a new song. Let all the earth sing to the Lord. ² Sing to the Lord. Honor His name. Make His saving power known from day to day. ³ Tell of His shining-greatness among the nations. Tell of His wonderful works among all the people. ⁴ For the Lord is great and should be given much praise. He is to be honored with fear above all gods. ⁵ For all the gods of the nations are false gods. But the Lord made the heavens. ⁶ Honor and great power are with Him. Strength and beauty are in His holy place.

⁷ Give to the Lord, O families of the nations, give to the Lord the honor and strength that He should have. ⁸ Give to the Lord the honor of His name. Bring a gift and come into His holy place. ⁹ Worship the Lord in holy clothing. May all the earth shake in fear before Him.

1 This letter is from Paul. I am a missionary sent by Jesus Christ and God the Father Who raised Jesus from the dead. I am not sent by men or by any one man. ² All the Christians join me in writing to you who are in the churches in the country of Galatia. ³ May you have loving-favor and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ He gave Him-self to die for our sins. He did this so we could be saved from this sinful world. This is what God wanted Him to do. ⁵ May He have all the honor forever. Let it be so.

Men Must Not Change the Good News

⁶ I am surprised you are leaving Christ so soon. You were chosen through His loving-favor. But now you are turning and listening to another kind of good news. ⁷ No! There is not another kind of good news. There are some who would like to lead you in the wrong way. They want to change the Good News about Christ. ⁸ Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach another kind of good news to you that is not the one we preached, let him be cursed. ⁹ As we said before, I will say it again. If any man is preaching another good news to you which is not the one you have received, let him be cursed.

This Good News Is from God

¹⁰ Do you think I am trying to get the favor of men, or of God? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant owned by Christ.

¹¹ Christian brothers, I want you to know the Good News I preached to you was not made by man. ¹² I did not receive it from man. No one taught it to me. I received it from Jesus Christ as He showed it to me.

The Healing of the Captain’s Helper ^(A)

7 When Jesus had finished teaching the people, He went back to Capernaum. ² A captain of the army had a servant whom he thought much of. This servant was very sick and was about to die. ³ When the captain heard of Jesus, he sent some Jewish leaders to Him. They were to ask if He would come and heal this servant. ⁴ They came to Jesus and begged Him, saying, “The man is respected and should have this done for him. ⁵ He loves our nation and has built our Jewish place of worship.”

⁶ Jesus went with them. When He was not far from the house, the captain told some friends to tell this to Jesus, “Lord, do not take the time to come to my house, because I am not good enough. ⁷ And I am not good enough to come to You. But just say the word and my servant will be healed. ⁸ For I am a man who works for someone else also, and I have soldiers who work for me. I say to this man, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I say to my workman, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

⁹ Jesus was surprised when He heard this. He turned to the people following Him and said, “I tell you, I have not found so much faith even in the Jewish nation.” ¹⁰ Those who had been sent went back to the captain’s house and found the servant well again.