Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Naaman’s Problem
5 Naaman was the captain of the army of the king of Aram. He was very important to his king[a] because the Lord used him to lead Aram to victory. Naaman was a great and powerful man, but he was also sick with leprosy.
2 The Aramean army sent many groups of soldiers to fight in Israel. One time they took a little girl from the land of Israel. This girl became a servant of Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to his wife, “I wish that my master would meet the prophet who lives in Samaria. He could heal Naaman of his leprosy.”
7 When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes to show he was sad and upset. He said, “Am I God? I don’t have the power over life and death. So why did the king of Aram send a man sick with leprosy for me to heal? Think about it, and you will see that it is a trick. The king of Aram is trying to start a fight.”
8 Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes. So Elisha sent this message to the king: “Why did you tear your clothes? Let Naaman come to me. Then he will know there is a prophet in Israel.”
9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots to Elisha’s house and stood outside the door. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman who said, “Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Then your skin will be healed, and you will be pure and clean.”
11 Naaman became angry and left. He said, “I thought Elisha would at least come out and stand in front of me and call on the name of the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over my body and heal the leprosy. 12 Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than all the water in Israel. Why can’t I wash in those rivers in Damascus and become clean?” He was very angry and turned to leave.
13 But Naaman’s servants went to him and talked to him. They said, “Father,[a] if the prophet told you to do some great thing, you would do it, isn’t that right? But he said, ‘Wash, and you will be pure and clean.’”
14 So Naaman did what the man of God said. He went down and dipped himself in the Jordan River seven times, and he became pure and clean. His skin became soft like the skin of a baby.
15 Naaman and his whole group came back to the man of God. He stood before Elisha and said, “Look, I now know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now please accept a gift from me.”
111 [a] Praise the Lord!
I thank the Lord with all my heart
in the assembly of his good people.
2 The Lord does wonderful things,
more than anyone could ask for.[b]
3 The things he does are great and glorious!
There is no end to his goodness.
4 He does amazing things so that we will remember
that the Lord is kind and merciful.
5 He gives food to his followers.
He remembers his agreement forever.
6 He has shown his people how powerful he is
by giving them the land of other nations.
7 Everything he does is good and fair.
All his commands can be trusted.
8 His commands will continue forever.
They must be done with truth and honesty.
9 He rescued his people and made his agreement with them forever.
His name is awesome and holy.
10 Wisdom begins with fear and respect for the Lord.
Those who obey him are very wise.
Praises will be sung to him forever.
8 Remember Jesus Christ. He is from the family of David. After Jesus died, he was raised from death. This is the Good News that I tell people. 9 And because I tell that message, I am suffering. I am even bound with chains like someone who has really done wrong. But God’s message is not bound. 10 So I patiently accept all these troubles. I do this to help the people God has chosen so that they can have the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. With this salvation comes glory that never ends.
11 Here is a true statement:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him.
12 If we remain faithful even in suffering,
we will also rule with him.
If we refuse to say we know him,
he will refuse to say he knows us.
13 If we are not faithful,
he will still be faithful,
because he cannot be false to himself.
A Worker Who Pleases God
14 Keep on telling everyone these truths. And warn them before God not to argue about words. Such arguments don’t help anyone, and they ruin those who listen to them. 15 Do your best to be the kind of person God will accept, and give yourself to him. Be a worker who has no reason to be ashamed of his work, one who applies the true teaching in the right way.
Be Thankful
11 Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem. He went from Galilee to Samaria. 12 He came into a small town, and ten men met him there. They did not come close to him, because they all had leprosy. 13 But the men shouted, “Jesus! Master! Please help us!”
14 When Jesus saw the men, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”[a]
While the ten men were going to the priests, they were healed. 15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus. He praised God loudly. 16 He bowed down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (He was a Samaritan.) 17 Jesus said, “Ten men were healed; where are the other nine? 18 This man is not even one of our people. Is he the only one who came back to give praise to God?” 19 Then Jesus said to the man, “Stand up! You can go. You were healed because you believed.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International