Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁹ But You, O Lord, be not far from me! O my Strength, hurry to help me! ²⁰ Take me away from the sword. Save my life from the power of the dog. ²¹ Save me from the lion’s mouth, and from the horns of the wild bulls You answer me.

²² I will make Your name known to my brothers. In the center of the meeting of worship I will praise You. ²³ You who fear the Lord, give Him praise. All you children of Jacob, honor Him. Fear Him, all you children of Israel. ²⁴ For He has not turned away from the suffering of the one in pain or trouble. He has not hidden His face from him. But He has heard his cry for help.

²⁵ My praise will be from You in the big meeting of worship. I will keep my promises to Him in front of those who fear Him. ²⁶ Those who suffer will eat and have enough. Those who look for the Lord will praise Him. May your heart live forever! ²⁷ All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will worship before Him. ²⁸ For the holy nation is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations.

Sin Keeps One from God

59 See, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save, and His ear is not closed that it cannot hear. ² But your wrong-doings have kept you away from your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear. ³ For your hands are sinful with blood, your fingers with wrong-doing, your lips have lied, and your tongue talks about sin. ⁴ No one wants what is right and fair in court. And no one argues his cause with the truth. They trust in what is false, and speak lies. They plan to make trouble and do what is sinful. ⁵ They bring young ones from the eggs of deadly snakes and make traps as a spider does. He who eats of their eggs dies, and a snake comes out of the egg that is crushed. ⁶ Clothing cannot be made from the work of the spider, so they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their works are works of sin. They hurt others with their hands. ⁷ And they are quick to sin and to kill people who are not guilty. Their thoughts are thoughts of sin. Wherever they go, they destroy and cause suffering. ⁸ They know nothing about peace, and there is nothing fair in their paths. Their roads are not straight. Whoever walks on them does not know peace.

The Healing of Two Blind Men

²⁷ Jesus went on from there. Two blind men followed Him. They called out, “Take pity on us, Son of David.” ²⁸ Jesus went into the house. The blind men came to Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do you have faith that I can do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Sir!” ²⁹ Then Jesus put His hands on their eyes and said, “You will have what you want because you have faith.” ³⁰ Their eyes were opened. Jesus told them to tell no one. ³¹ But when they had gone, they told about Him everywhere in the country.

³² As they went on their way, a man who had a demon and could not talk was brought to Jesus. ³³ When the demon was put out of him, the man was able to talk. Many people were surprised and wondered about it. They said, “We have never seen in the nation of the Jews like this.” ³⁴ But the proud religious law-keepers said, “He puts out demons by the help of the leader of the demons.”