Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Cry of Desperation
Psalm 88
1 A song, a psalm of the sons of Korah, for the music director, for singing Mahalath, a contemplative song[a] of Heman the Ezrahite.
2 Adonai, God of my salvation,
day and night I cried out before You.
3 Let my prayer come before You.
Turn Your ear to my cry.
4 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
5 I am counted with those who go down into the Pit.
I have become as one with no strength—
6 abandoned among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
whom You remember no more—
cut off from Your hand.
7 You have laid me in the lowest places,
in dark places, in the depths.
8 Your wrath lies heavily on me.
You afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah
9 You have put my companions far from me.
You have made me repulsive to them.
I am shut in and I cannot go out.
10 My eye fails from affliction.
I call upon You every day, Adonai.
I spread out my hands to You.
11 Will You work wonders for the dead?
Or will the departed spirits rise up praising You? Selah
12 Will Your love be declared in the grave?
Or Your faithfulness in the place of ruin?
13 Will Your wonders be known in the darkness?
Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
14 But I—I cried out to You, Adonai,
and in the morning my prayer meets You.
15 Adonai, why do You spurn me?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
16 From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death.
I suffer Your terrors—I am desperate!
17 Your fury has swept over me.
Your terrors have cut me off.
18 Like water they surge around me all day.
They close in on me together.
19 Friend and loved one You took far from me.
Darkness has become my companion.
Put Your House In Order
20 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So Isaiah the prophet son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says Adonai: Put your house in order. For you are dying, and will not live.”
2 Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Adonai saying: 3 “Please, Adonai, remember how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone out of the middle court, that the word of Adonai came to him, saying: 5 “Return, and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, thus says Adonai, the God of your father David: ‘I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you will go up to the House of Adonai. 6 Then I will add 15 years to your life. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’”
7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” So they took one and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Adonai will heal me, and that I should go up to the House of Adonai on the third day?”
9 Then Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from Adonai, that Adonai will do this word He has spoken: Should the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”
10 Hezekiah answered, “It’s easy for a shadow to go forward ten steps; no, let the shadow turn back ten steps.”
11 Then Isaiah the prophet cried to Adonai; and He brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.
The Secret of Prayer
14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a big crowd around them and the Torah scholars arguing with them. 15 Suddenly, when the whole crowd saw Yeshua, they were amazed and began running to greet Him. 16 He questioned them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
17 And a man from the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes stiff. I told Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t!”
19 And answering them, He said, “Oh faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me.”
20 They brought the boy to Yeshua. When the spirit saw Him, immediately it threw the boy into a convulsion. The boy fell to the ground and began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. 21 Yeshua asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
“Since he was a child,” the man answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion and help us!”
23 “‘If You can’?” Yeshua said to him. “All things are possible for one who believes!”
24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I believe! Help my unbelief!”
25 When Yeshua saw that a crowd was gathering fast, He rebuked the unclean spirit, telling it, “I command you, deaf and mute spirit, come out of him and do not ever enter him again!”
26 After howling and shaking the boy wildly, it came out. The boy became so much like a corpse that many were saying, “He’s dead!” 27 But Yeshua took him by the hand and lifted him, and the boy stood up.
28 After Yeshua came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him in private, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29 And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out except by prayer.”[a]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.