Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Davidic Psalm: As a Reminder.
The Outcast Cries Out
38 Lord! Do not rebuke me in your anger;
do not correct me in your wrath,
2 because your arrows have sunk deep into me,
and your hand has come down hard on me.
3 My body is unhealthy due to your anger,
and my bones have no rest due to my sin.
4 My iniquities loom over my head;
like a cumbersome burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds have putrefied and festered
because of my foolishness.
6 I am bent over and walk about greatly bowed down;
all day long I go around mourning.
7 My insides[a] are burning
and my body is unhealthy.
8 I am weak and utterly crushed;
I cry out in distress because of my heart’s anguish.
9 Lord, all my longings are before you,
and my groaning is not hidden from you.
10 My heart pounds,
my strength fails me,
even the gleam in my eye is gone.
11 As for my friends and my neighbors,
they stand aloof from my distress;
even my close relatives stand at a distance.
12 Those who seek my life lay snares for me;
those who seek to do me harm brag all day long about their wicked planning.
13 I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,
and like the mute, who cannot open his mouth.
14 Indeed, I have become like a man who hears nothing,
and in whose mouth there is no rebuke.
15 Because I have placed my hope in you, Lord,
you will answer, Lord, my God.
16 For I said, “Do not let them gloat over me,
as they congratulate themselves when my foot slips.”
17 Indeed, I am being set up for a fall,
and I am continuously reminded of my pain.
18 I confess my iniquity,
and my sin troubles me.
19 But my enemies are alive and well;[b]
those who hate me[c] for no reason are numerous.[d]
20 They[e] reward my good with evil,
opposing me because I seek to do good.[f]
21 Don’t forsake me, Lord.
My God, do not be so distant from me.
22 Come quickly and help me,
Lord, my deliverer.
Restoration is Promised to Israel
18 “Nevertheless, the Lord will wait
so he can be gracious to you;
and thus he will rise up to show you mercy.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
How blessed are all those who wait for him.”
19 Indeed, you people who live in Zion and in Jerusalem,[a] you[b] will weep no more. How gracious the Lord[c] will be to you at the sound of your cry! As soon as he hears it, he will answer you. 20 And although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water[d] of affliction, your teachers won’t hide themselves[e] anymore, but your own eyes will see your teachers. 21 And whether you turn to the right or turn to the left, your ears will hear a message behind you: “This is the way, walk in it.” 22 Then you will defile your carved idols that are overlaid with silver and your images plated with gold. You’ll throw them away like disgusting objects[f] and say to them, “Away with you!”
23 He will also provide rain for your seed that you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the ground will be[g] rich and abundant. At that time,[h] your cattle will graze in broad meadows, 24 and oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned[i] fodder that workers will winnow with shovels and forks. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks and canals[j] running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the sun’s light will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days,[k] when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
Paul and Barnabas in Lystra
8 Now in Lystra there was a man sitting down who couldn’t use his feet. He had been crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul[a] watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed, 10 he said in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” Then the man[b] jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!” 12 They began to call Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker. 13 The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15 “Men, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings with natures like yours. We are telling you the good news so you’ll turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.[c] 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways, 17 yet he has not abandoned his witness: he continues to do good, to give you rain from heaven, to give you[d] fruitful seasons, and to fill you with food and your hearts with joy.” 18 Even by saying this, it was all Paul and Barnabas[e] could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.
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