Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Loves Jerusalem
A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
87 The Lord built Jerusalem on the holy mountain.
2 He loves its gates more than any other place in Israel.
3 City of God,
wonderful things are said about you. Selah
4 God says, “I will put Egypt and Babylonia
on the list of nations that know me.
People from Philistia, Tyre, and Cush
will be born there.”
5 They will say about Jerusalem,
“This one and that one were born there.
God Most High will strengthen her.”
6 The Lord will keep a list of the nations.
He will note, “This person was born there.” Selah
7 They will dance and sing,
“All good things come from Jerusalem.”
18 “I know they have evil thoughts and do evil things, so I am coming to punish them. I will gather all nations and all people, and they will come together and see my glory.
19 “I will put a mark on some of the people, and I will send some of these saved people to the nations: to Tarshish, Libya, Lud (the land of archers), Tubal, Greece, and all the faraway lands. These people have never heard about what I have done nor seen my glory. So the saved people will tell the nations about my glory. 20 And they will bring all your fellow Israelites from all nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem. Your fellow Israelites will come on horses, donkeys, and camels and in chariots and wagons. They will be like the grain offerings that the people bring in clean containers to the Temple,” says the Lord. 21 “And I will choose even some of these people to be priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
22 “I will make new heavens and the new earth, which will last forever,” says the Lord. “In the same way, your names and your children will always be with me. 23 All people will come to worship me every Sabbath and every New Moon,” says the Lord.
Jesus Heals a Sick Man
8 When Jesus came down from the hill, great crowds followed him. 2 Then a man with a skin disease came to Jesus. The man bowed down before him and said, “Lord, you can heal me if you will.”
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man and said, “I will. Be healed!” And immediately the man was healed from his disease. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. But go and show yourself to the priest[a] and offer the gift Moses commanded[b] for people who are made well. This will show the people what I have done.”
Jesus Heals a Soldier’s Servant
5 When Jesus entered the city of Capernaum, an army officer came to him, begging for help. 6 The officer said, “Lord, my servant is at home in bed. He can’t move his body and is in much pain.”
7 Jesus said to the officer, “I will go and heal him.”
8 The officer answered, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come into my house. You only need to command it, and my servant will be healed. 9 I, too, am a man under the authority of others, and I have soldiers under my command. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant does it.
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who were following him, “I tell you the truth, this is the greatest faith I have found, even in Israel. 11 Many people will come from the east and from the west and will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But those people who should be in the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.”
13 Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home. Your servant will be healed just as you believed he would.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.