Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for a Safe Place
64 O God, hear my voice when I complain. Keep my life safe from the fear of those who hate me. 2 Hide me from the secret plans of the sinful and from the noise of those who do bad things. 3 They have made their tongues sharp like a sword. They use poison words like arrows. 4 They shoot at the man without blame from their hiding place. They are quick to shoot at him and are not afraid. 5 They talk each other into doing sinful things. They talk about setting hidden traps. They say, “Who will see them?” 6 They think of ways to do bad things, and say, “We have made a perfect plan!” For the inside thoughts and the heart of a man are deep.
7 But God will shoot at them with an arrow. They will be hurt very soon. 8 They will be made to trip and fall. Their own tongue is against them. All who see them will shake their heads. 9 Then all men will be afraid. They will tell about the work of God. And they will think about what He has done. 10 The man who is right and good will be glad in the Lord and go to Him to be safe. All those whose hearts are right will give Him praise.
King of Egypt Is Like a Dragon
32 On the first day of the twelfth month in the twelfth year, the Word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, sing a song of sorrow for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him, ‘You compared yourself to a young lion among the nations, yet you are like the big dragon in the seas. You go through your rivers, troubling the water with your feet and making the rivers muddy.’” 3 The Lord God says, “Now I will throw My net over you with an army of many nations. They will lift you up in My net. 4 And I will leave you on the land. I will throw you on the open field. I will have all the birds of the air live on you. And I will feed you to the wild animals of the earth. 5 I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with what is left of you. 6 I will make the land drink your flowing blood as far as the mountains, and the deep valleys will be full of you. 7 When I destroy you, I will cover the heavens and make the stars dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. 8 I will make all the shining lights in the heavens dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land,” says the Lord God. 9 “I will trouble the hearts of many people when I destroy you among the nations, among lands you have not known. 10 I will fill many nations with fear and wonder because of you. Their kings will shake in fear for you when I wave My sword in front of them. Every man will keep shaking in fear for his own life, on the day you are destroyed.”
A Boy with a Demon Is Healed (A)
37 The next day they came down from the mountain and many people met Jesus. 38 A man from among the people cried out, “Teacher, I beg of You to look at my son. He is my only child. 39 See, a demon takes him and makes him cry out. It takes hold of him and makes him shake. Spit runs from his mouth. He has marks on his body from being hurt. The demon does not want to go from him. 40 I begged Your followers to put the demon out, but they could not.”
41 Then Jesus said, “You people of this day do not have faith. You turn from what is right! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring your son to Me.” 42 While the boy was coming, the demon threw him down and made him lose the use of his mind for awhile. Jesus spoke sharp words to the demon. He healed the child and gave him back to his father.
Jesus Tells of His Death the Second Time (B)
43 They were all surprised at the great power of God. They all were thinking about the special things Jesus had done. And Jesus said to His followers,
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