Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Incline Your Ear to My Cry

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director. According to Mahalath Leannoth. A ^[a]Maskil of Heman ^[b]the Ezrahite.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Restoration

20 ^(A)In those days Hezekiah became ill to the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘^(B)Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” ² Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying, ³ “^(C)Remember now, O Yahweh, I beseech You, ^(D)how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And ^(E)Hezekiah wept ^[a]greatly. ⁴ Now it happened that Isaiah had not gone out of the middle court, and the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ⁵ “Return and say to ^(F)Hezekiah the ruler of My people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of your father David, “^(G)I have heard your prayer, ^(H)I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of Yahweh. ⁶ And I will add fifteen years to your ^[b]life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ^(I)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.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he was restored to life.

⁸ Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh the third day?” ⁹ And Isaiah said, “^(J)This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or turn back ten steps?” ¹⁰ So ^[c]Hezekiah ^[d]answered, “It is easy for the shadow to stretch forward ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.” ¹¹ Isaiah the prophet cried to Yahweh, and ^(K)He turned the shadow on the ^[e]stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the ^[f]stairway of Ahaz.

I Believe, Help My Unbelief

^14 (A)And when they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ And immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were ^(B)amazed. And as they ran up, they were greeting Him. ¹⁶ And He asked them, “What are you arguing with them?” ¹⁷ And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; ¹⁸ and ^[a]whenever it seizes him, it ^[b]slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and ^[c]becomes rigid. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” ¹⁹ And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” ²⁰ And they brought ^[d]the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” ²³ And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ ^(C)All things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father cried out and was saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” ²⁵ Now when Jesus saw that ^(D)a crowd was ^[e]rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, ^[f]I command you, come out of him and do not enter him ^[g]again.” ²⁶ And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up. ²⁸ And when He came ^(E)into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹ And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”