Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Rejoicing in Answered Prayer
A Psalm of David.
28 To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock:
(A)Do not be silent to me,
(B)Lest, if You are silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications
When I cry to You,
(C)When I lift up my hands (D)toward Your holy sanctuary.
3 Do not [a]take me away with the wicked
And with the workers of iniquity,
(E)Who speak peace to their neighbors,
But evil is in their hearts.
4 (F)Give them according to their deeds,
And according to the wickedness of their endeavors;
Give them according to the work of their hands;
Render to them what they deserve.
5 Because (G)they do not regard the works of the Lord,
Nor the operation of His hands,
He shall destroy them
And not build them up.
Samson Dies with the Philistines
23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to (A)Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said:
“Our god has delivered into our hands
Samson our enemy!”
24 When the people saw him, they (B)praised their god; for they said:
“Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy,
The destroyer of our land,
And the one who multiplied our dead.”
25 So it happened, when their hearts were (C)merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. 26 Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” 27 Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the (D)roof watching while Samson performed.
28 Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, (E)remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. 30 Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.
31 And his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and (F)buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel (G)twenty years.
2 (A)Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. (B)When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”
4 But Jesus, (C)knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 7 And he arose and departed to his house.
8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they (D)marveled[a] and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.