Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

²¹ But You, O God, the Lord, be kind to me because of Your name. Take me out of trouble because Your loving-kindness is good. ²² For I am in trouble and in need. And my heart is hurt within me. ²³ I am passing like an evening shadow. I am shaken off like a locust. ²⁴ My knees are weak from going without food. And my body has lost all its fat. ²⁵ Others laugh at me. They look at me and shake their heads.

²⁶ Help me, O Lord my God! Save me by Your loving-kindness. ²⁷ Let them know that this is Your hand and that You, O Lord, have done it. ²⁸ Let them hope that bad things will happen. But You make good things happen. Let them be ashamed when they rise up against me. But let Your servant be full of joy. ²⁹ Let those who speak against me be dressed with shame. Let them cover themselves with shame as with a coat. ³⁰ I will give thanks to the Lord in a loud voice. I will praise Him among many people. ³¹ For He stands at the right hand of the one in need to save him from those who judge his soul.

Israel Will Come Back to God

³³ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will be King over you, and will rule with a powerful hand, a strong arm, and with anger. ³⁴ I will bring you out of the nations and countries where you have been divided. I will gather you together with a powerful hand, a strong arm, and with anger. ³⁵ I will bring you into the desert of the nations, and there I will punish you face to face. ³⁶ As I punished your fathers in the desert of Egypt, so I will punish you,” says the Lord God. ³⁷ “I will hold power over you and make you obey the agreement. ³⁸ I will take away from among you all those who sin or who turn against Me. I will bring them out of the land where they are living, but they will not go into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ³⁹ As for you, O people of Israel,” the Lord God says, “Go and serve your false gods, every one of you, now and later if you will not listen to Me. Do not ever again bring shame to My holy name with your gifts and your false gods. ⁴⁰ For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel,” says the Lord God, “all the people of Israel will serve Me in the land. There I will receive them. And there I will ask for the best of your gifts, with all your holy things. ⁴¹ I will receive you as the pleasing smell of special perfume, when I bring you out of the nations and gather you from the different lands where you have been sent. And I will prove Myself holy among you in the eyes of the nations. ⁴² Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I promised to give to your fathers. ⁴³ There you will remember your ways and all the bad things you did to make yourselves sinful. And you will hate yourselves in your own eyes for all the sinful things you have done. ⁴⁴ You will know that I am the Lord when I honor My name by being good to you even though your ways have been sinful and you have done many sinful things, O people of Israel,” says the Lord God.’”

Jesus Heals on the Day of Rest ^(A)

⁶ On another Day of Rest Jesus went into the Jewish place of worship and taught. A man with a dried-up hand was there. ⁷ The teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers watched to see if He would heal on the Day of Rest. They wanted to have something to say against Him. ⁸ Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to the man with the dried-up hand, “Stand up and come here.” The man stood up and went to Jesus. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing. Does the Law say to do good on the Day of Rest or to do bad? To save life or to kill?” ¹⁰ Jesus looked around at them all and said to the man, “Put out your hand.” He put it out and his hand was healed. It was as good as his other hand. ¹¹ The teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers were filled with anger. They talked with each other about what they might do to Jesus.