Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
19 But, Lord, don’t be far away.
You are my power. Hurry to help me.
20 Save me from the sword.
Save my life from the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the lion’s mouth.
Save me from the horns of the bulls.
22 Then I will tell my brothers and sisters about you.
I will praise you when your people meet to worship you.
23 Praise the Lord, all you who worship him.
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him.
Fear him, all you Israelites.
24 The Lord does not ignore
the one who is in trouble.
He doesn’t hide from him.
He listens when the one in trouble calls out to him.
25 Lord, I praise you in the great meeting of your people.
These worshipers will see me do what I promised.
26 Poor people will eat until they are full.
Those who look to the Lord will praise him.
May your hearts live forever!
27 People everywhere will remember
and will turn to the Lord.
All the families of the nations
will worship him.
28 This is because the Lord is King.
He rules the nations.
The Evil That People Do
59 Surely the Lord’s power is enough to save you.
He can hear you when you ask him for help.
2 It is your evil that has separated
you from your God.
Your sins cause him to turn away from you.
And then he does not hear you.
3 With your hands you have killed others.
Your fingers are covered with blood from killing people.
With your lips you have lied.
With your tongue you say evil things.
4 People take each other to court unfairly.
No one tells the truth in arguing his case.
They accuse each other falsely and tell lies.
They cause trouble and create more evil.
5 They hatch evil like eggs from poisonous snakes.
If you eat one of those eggs, you will die.
And if you break one open, a poisonous snake comes out.
People tell lies as they would spin a spider’s web.
6 The webs they make cannot be used for clothes.
You can’t cover yourself with those webs.
The things they do are evil.
They use their hands to hurt others.
7 They eagerly run to do evil.
They are always ready to kill innocent people.
They think evil thoughts.
Everywhere they go they cause ruin and destruction.
8 They don’t know how to live in peace.
There is no fairness in their lives.
They are dishonest.
Anyone who lives as they live will never have peace.
Jesus Heals More People
27 When Jesus was leaving there, two blind men followed him. They cried out, “Show kindness to us, Son of David!”
28 Jesus went inside, and the blind men went with him. He asked the men, “Do you believe that I can make you see again?”
They answered, “Yes, Lord.”
29 Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “You believe that I can make you see again. So this will happen.” 30 Then the men were able to see. But Jesus warned them very strongly, saying, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” 31 But the blind men left and spread the news about Jesus all around that area.
32 When the two men were leaving, some people brought another man to Jesus. This man could not talk because he had a demon in him. 33 Jesus forced the demon to leave the man. Then the man who couldn’t talk was able to speak. The crowd was amazed and said, “We have never seen anything like this in Israel.”
34 But the Pharisees said, “The leader of demons is the one that gives him power to force demons out.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.