Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A song. A psalm by the descendants of Korah. According to Machalath Leannoth. An instruction[a] by Heman the Ezrahite.
A Cry for Help
88 Lord, God of my salvation,
by day and by night I cry out before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
listen[b] to my cry.
3 For my life is filled with troubles
as I approach Sheol.[c]
4 I am considered as one of those descending into the Pit,[d]
like a mighty man without strength,
5 released to remain[e] with the dead,
lying in a grave like a corpse,
remembered no longer,
and cut off from your power.
6 You have assigned me to the lowest part of the Pit,[f]
to the darkest depths.
7 Your anger lies heavily upon me;
you pound[g] me with all your waves.
8 You caused my acquaintances to shun me;[h]
you make me extremely abhorrent to them.
Restrained, I am unable to go out.
9 My eyes languish on account of my affliction;
all day long I call out to you, Lord,
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Can you perform wonders for the dead?
Can departed spirits stand up to praise you?
11 Can your gracious love be declared in the grave
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?[i]
12 Can your awesome deeds be known in darkness
or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
13 As for me, I cry out to you Lord,
and in the morning my prayer greets you.
14 Why, Lord, have you rejected me?
Why have you hidden your face from me?
15 Since my youth I have been oppressed
and in danger of death.
I bear your dread
and am overwhelmed.
16 Your burning anger overwhelms me;
your terrors destroy me.
17 Like waters, they engulf me all day long;
they surround me on all sides.
18 You caused my friend and neighbor to shun me;[j]
and my acquaintances are confused.[k]
On Menstrual Discharges
19 “When a woman has a discharge,[a] and the blood is her monthly menstrual discharge[b] from her body, then for seven days she is to remain in her menstrual uncleanness. Whoever touches her will remain unclean until evening. 20 Everything that she sleeps on during her uncleanness will be unclean. Moreover, everything that she sits on will become unclean. 21 Anyone who touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. 22 Anyone who touches any of the objects on which she has sat is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. 23 Any bed or other object on which she sat that he touches will make him unclean until evening. 24 When a man has sexual relations with her and her menstrual uncleanness touches him, he will be unclean for seven days. Every bed where he sleeps will remain unclean.
25 “When a woman has a continuous discharge of blood many days beyond the time of her menstrual uncleanness, or if she has a discharge that lasts beyond the days of her menstrual uncleanness, her uncleanness is to be treated like the days of her menstruation—she’s unclean. 26 Every bed on which she sleeps the whole time she has the discharge will be her own unclean bed, so that every object on which she sits becomes unclean like her menstrual uncleanness. 27 Whoever touches them will become unclean. He is to wash his clothes and bathe with water and he will remain unclean until evening.
28 “If she becomes clean with her discharge, then she is to count for herself seven days, after which she becomes clean. 29 On the eighth day, she is to take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 30 Then the priest is to offer one for a sin offering and the other for a whole burnt offering. This is how the priest will make atonement in the Lord’s presence for her regarding her unclean discharge.
31 “So separate the Israelis from their uncleanness so that they won’t die in their uncleanness if they defile my tent that is in their midst.
Why Giving is Important
9 I do not need to write to you any further about the ministry to the saints. 2 For I know how willing you are, and I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying[a] that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your enthusiasm has stimulated most of them. 3 Now I have sent the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter may not prove to be an idle boast, and so that you may stand ready, just as I said. 4 Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find out that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—in this undertaking. 5 Therefore, I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to visit you ahead of me, to make arrangements in advance for this gift you promised, and to have it ready as something given generously and not forced.
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