Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁰ I said, “Half-way through my life I am to go through the gates of the place of the dead. The rest of my years have been kept from me.” ¹¹ I said, “I will not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living. I will not look upon man any more among the people of the world. ¹² My house is pulled up like a shepherd’s tent and taken from me. I have rolled up my life like a cloth-maker. He cuts me off from the cloth He is making. From day to night You make an end of me. ¹³ I waited for help until morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones. From day to night You make an end of me. ¹⁴ I make noise like the birds. I cry like a dove. My eyes are tired from looking up. O Lord, I am having a hard time. Keep me safe.

¹⁵ “But what can I say? For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it. I will walk with care all my years because my soul is bitter. ¹⁶ O Lord, by these things men live. And in all these is the life of my spirit. O heal me, and let me live! ¹⁷ See, it was for my own well-being that I was bitter. But You have kept my soul from the grave that destroys. You have put all my sins behind Your back. ¹⁸ The place of the dead cannot thank You. Death cannot praise You. Those who go down to the grave cannot hope that You will be faithful. ¹⁹ It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today. A father tells his sons about how faithful You are. ²⁰ The Lord will save me. And we will sing my songs with harps all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.”

⁹ The Philistines went and set up their tents in Judah, and spread out in Lehi. ¹⁰ The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” The Philistines said, “We have come to take Samson and do to him as he did to us.” ¹¹ Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the opening of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? What is this that you have done to us?” Samson said to them, “I have done to them as they did to me.” ¹² They said to him, “We have come to take you and give you to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me that you will not kill me.” ¹³ So they said to him, “No, we will only tie you up and give you to them. We will not kill you.” So they tied him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

¹⁴ When Samson came to Lehi, the Philistines came with a loud noise to meet him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson with power. The ropes on his arms became as weak as a burning plant, and fell from his hands. ¹⁵ Samson found a jawbone of a donkey and took it in his hand. He killed 1,000 men with it. ¹⁶ Then Samson said, “With the bone of a donkey there are bodies upon bodies. With the bone of a donkey I have killed 1,000 men.” ¹⁷ When he was done speaking, he threw the bone from his hand. And he called that place Ramath-lehi. ¹⁸ Then Samson became very thirsty. He called to the Lord and said, “You have taken us away from trouble by the hand of Your servant. Now must I die of thirst and fall into the hands of those who have not gone through our religious act?” ¹⁹ But God broke open a place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned. He received new life. So he called the place En-hakkore. It is in Lehi to this day. ²⁰ Samson ruled Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

A Boy with a Demon Is Healed ^(A)

¹⁴ When they came to many people, a man came up to Jesus and got on his knees. He said, ¹⁵ “Lord, have pity on my son. He is very sick and at times loses the use of his mind. Many times he falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I took him to Your followers but they were not able to heal him.”

¹⁷ Then Jesus said, “You people of this day have no faith and you are going the wrong way. How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ Jesus spoke sharp words to the demon and the demon came out of him. At once the boy was healed.

¹⁹ The followers came to Jesus when He was alone. They said, “Why were we not able to put the demon out?” ²⁰ Jesus said to them, “Because you have so little faith. For sure, I tell you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to over there,’ and it would move over. You will be able to do anything. ²¹ *But this kind of demon does not go out but by prayer and by going without food so you can pray better.”