Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God’s Response
65 “I let myself be sought by those who didn’t ask for me;[a]
I let myself be found by those who didn’t seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
to a nation that didn’t call on my name.
2 I held out my hands all day long
to a disobedient[b] people,
who walk in a way that isn’t good,
following their own inclinations—
3 a people who continually provoke me to my face;
they[c] keep sacrificing in gardens
and waving their hands[d] over stone[e] altars;
4 who sit among graves,
and spend the night in secret places;
who eat pigs’ meat,
with the broth[f] of detestable things in[g] their pots;
5 who say, ‘Keep to yourself!’
‘Don’t touch[h] me!’ and ‘I am[i] too holy for you!’
“Such people are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that keeps burning all day long.
6 Watch out! It stands written before me:
‘I won’t keep silent, but I will pay back in full;
I’ll indeed repay into[j] their laps
7 both your iniquities and your ancestors’[k] iniquities together,’’
says the Lord.
“Because they offered incense on the mountains
and insulted me on hills,[l]
I’ll measure into[m] their laps
full payment for their earlier actions.”
A Remnant will be Preserved
8 This is what the Lord says:
“Just as new wine is found in the cluster,
and people have said,[n] ‘Don’t destroy it,
for there is a gift in it,’
so I’ll act for my servants’ sake,
by not destroying them all.
9 I’ll bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah they[o] will inherit[p] my mountains;
my chosen people will inherit it,
and my servants will live there.
19 But as for you, Lord, do not be far away from me;
My Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword;
my precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Deliver me from the mouth of the lion,
from the horns of the wild oxen.
You have answered me.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you, saying,[a]
23 “All who fear the Lord, praise him!
All the seed of Jacob, glorify him!
All the seed of Israel, fear him!
24 For he does not despise nor detest the afflicted person;
he does not hide his face from him,
but he hears him when he cries out to him.”
25 My praise in the great congregation is because of you;
I will pay my vows before those who fear you.[b]
26 The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him,
“May you[c] live forever!”
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord;
all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the Lord.
28 Indeed, the kingdom belongs to the Lord;
he rules over the nations.
23 Now before faith came about, we were held in custody and confined under the Law in preparation for the faith that was to be revealed. 24 And so the Law was our guardian until the Messiah[a] came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come about, we are no longer under a guardian.
You are God’s Children
26 For all of you are God’s children through faith in the Messiah[b] Jesus. 27 Indeed, all of you who were baptized into the Messiah[c] have clothed yourselves with the Messiah.[d] 28 Because all of you are one in the Messiah[e] Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female. 29 And if you belong to the Messiah,[f] then you are Abraham’s descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man(A)
26 They landed in the region of the Gerasenes,[a] which is just across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus[b] stepped out on the shore, a man from the city met him. This man was controlled by[c] demons and had not worn clothes for a long time. He did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he screamed, fell down in front of him, and cried out in a loud voice, “What do you want from me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!” 29 because Jesus[d] was in the process of ordering the unclean spirit to come out of the man. On many occasions the unclean spirit[e] had seized the man,[f] and though he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, he would break the chains and be driven by the demon into deserted places.
30 Jesus asked the man,[g] “What’s your name?”
He answered, “Legion,”[h] because many demons had gone into him. 31 Then the demons[i] began begging Jesus[j] not to order them to go into the bottomless pit.[k]
32 Now a large herd of pigs was grazing there on the hillside. So the demons[l] begged Jesus[m] to let them go into those pigs, and he consented to that. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down a steep slope into the lake and drowned.
34 Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. 35 So the people[n] went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind, they were frightened. 36 The people who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37 Then all the people from the region surrounding the Gerasenes[o] asked Jesus[p] to leave them, because they were terrified. So he got into a boat and started back.
38 Now the man from whom the demons had gone out kept begging Jesus[q] to let him go with him. But Jesus[r] sent him away, saying, 39 “Go home and tell what God has done for you.” So the man[s] left and kept proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
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