Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

(A song for worship.)

Trusting the Lord in Times of Trouble

Passover Is Celebrated

¹³ In the second month,^[a] a large crowd of people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Thin Bread.^{[b] 14} They took all the foreign altars and incense altars in Jerusalem and threw them into Kidron Valley.

^15-17 Then, on the fourteenth day of that same month, the Levites began killing the lambs for Passover, because many of the worshipers were unclean and were not allowed to kill their own lambs. Meanwhile, some of the priests and Levites felt ashamed because they had not gone through the ceremony to make themselves clean. They immediately went through that ceremony and went to the temple, where they offered sacrifices to please the Lord.^[c] Then the priests and Levites took their positions, according to the Law of Moses, the servant of God.

As the Levites killed the lambs, they handed some of the blood to the priests, who splattered it on the altar.

^18-19 Most of the people that came from Ephraim, West Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not made themselves clean, but they ignored God's Law and ate the Passover lambs anyway. Hezekiah found out what they had done and prayed, “Lord God, these people are unclean according to the laws of holiness. But they are worshiping you, just as their ancestors did. So, please be kind and forgive them.” ²⁰ The Lord answered Hezekiah's prayer and did not punish them.

²¹ The worshipers in Jerusalem were very happy and celebrated the Festival for seven days. The Levites and priests sang praises to the Lord every day and played their instruments. ²² Hezekiah thanked the Levites for doing such a good job, leading the celebration.

The worshipers celebrated for seven days by offering sacrifices, by eating the sacred meals, and by praising the Lord God of their ancestors. ²³ Everyone was so excited that they agreed to celebrate seven more days.

²⁴ So Hezekiah gave the people 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep to be offered as sacrifices and to be used as food for the sacred meals. His officials gave 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep, and many more priests agreed to go through the ceremony to make themselves clean. ²⁵ Everyone was very happy, including those from Judah and Israel, the priests and Levites, and the foreigners living in Judah and Israel. ²⁶ It was the biggest celebration in Jerusalem since the days of King Solomon, the son of David. ²⁷ The priests and Levites asked God to bless the people, and from his home in heaven, he did.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Walk

(Matthew 9.1-8; Luke 5.17-26)

2 Jesus went back to Capernaum, and a few days later people heard that he was at home.^{[a] 2} Then so many of them came to the house that there wasn't even standing room left in front of the door.

Jesus was still teaching ³ when four people came up, carrying a man on a mat because he could not walk. ⁴ But because of the crowd, they could not get him to Jesus. So they made a hole in the roof^[b] above him and let the man down in front of everyone.

⁵ When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶ Some of the teachers of the Law of Moses were sitting there. They started wondering, ⁷ “Why would he say such a thing? He must think he is God! Only God can forgive sins.”

⁸ At once, Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said, “Why are you thinking such things? ⁹ Is it easier for me to tell this man his sins are forgiven or to tell him to get up and pick up his mat and go on home? ¹⁰ I will show you that the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins here on earth.” So Jesus said to the man, ¹¹ “Get up! Pick up your mat and go on home.”

¹² The man got right up. He picked up his mat and went out while everyone watched in amazement. They praised God and said, “We have never seen anything like this!”