Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
18 The Lord says, “Forget what happened before,
and do not think about the past.
19 Look at the new thing I am going to do.
It is already happening. Don’t you see it?
I will make a road in the desert
and rivers in the dry land.
20 Even the wild animals will be thankful to me—
the wild dogs and owls.
They will honor me when I put water in the desert
and rivers in the dry land
to give water to my people, the ones I chose.
21 The people I made
will sing songs to praise me.
22 “People of Jacob, you have not called to me;
people of Israel, you have become tired of me.
23 You have not brought me your sacrifices of sheep
nor honored me with your sacrifices.
I did not weigh you down with sacrifices to offer
or make you tired with incense to burn.
24 So you did not buy incense for me;
you did not freely bring me fat from your sacrifices.
Instead you have weighed me down with your many sins;
you have made me tired of your many wrongs.
25 “I, I am the One who erases all your sins, for my sake;
I will not remember your sins.
A Prayer in Time of Sickness
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
41 Happy are those who think about the poor.
When trouble comes, the Lord will save them.
2 The Lord will protect them and spare their life
and will bless them in the land.
He will not let their enemies take them.
3 The Lord will give them strength when they are sick,
and he will make them well again.
4 I said, “Lord, have mercy on me.
Heal me, because I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies are saying evil things about me.
They say, “When will he die and be forgotten?”
6 Some people come to see me,
but they lie.
They just come to get bad news.
Then they go and gossip.
7 All my enemies whisper about me
and think the worst about me.
8 They say, “He has a terrible disease.
He will never get out of bed again.”
9 My best and truest friend, who ate at my table,
has even turned against me.
10 Lord, have mercy on me.
Give me strength so I can pay them back.
11 Because my enemies do not defeat me,
I know you are pleased with me.
12 Because I am innocent, you support me
and will let me be with you forever.
13 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
He has always been,
and he will always be.
Amen and amen.
18 But since you can believe God, you can believe that what we tell you is never both yes and no. 19 The Son of God, Jesus Christ, that Silas and Timothy and I preached to you, was not yes and no. In Christ it has always been yes. 20 The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ, and through Christ we say yes to the glory of God. 21 Remember, God is the One who makes you and us strong in Christ. God made us his chosen people. 22 He put his mark on us to show that we are his, and he put his Spirit in our hearts to be a guarantee for all he has promised.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
2 A few days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. 2 Many people gathered together so that there was no room in the house, not even outside the door. And Jesus was teaching them God’s message. 3 Four people came, carrying a paralyzed man. 4 Since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, they dug a hole in the roof right above where he was speaking. When they got through, they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man on it. 5 When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralyzed man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Some of the teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this man say things like that? He is speaking as if he were God. Only God can forgive sins.”
8 Jesus knew immediately what these teachers of the law were thinking. So he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up. Take your mat and walk’? 10 But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, 11 “I tell you, stand up, take your mat, and go home.” 12 Immediately the paralyzed man stood up, took his mat, and walked out while everyone was watching him.
The people were amazed and praised God. They said, “We have never seen anything like this!”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.