Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 38
Prayer of a Suffering Sinner
A psalm of David to bring remembrance.(A)
1 Lord, do not punish me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.(B)
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has pressed down on me.(C)
3 There is no soundness in my body
because of your indignation;
there is no health[a] in my bones
because of my sin.(D)
4 For my iniquities have flooded over my head;
they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.(E)
5 My wounds are foul and festering
because of my foolishness.(F)
6 I am bent over and brought very low;
all day long I go around in mourning.(G)
7 For my insides are full of burning pain,
and there is no soundness in my body.(H)
8 I am faint and severely crushed;
I groan because of the anguish of my heart.(I)
9 Lord, my every desire is in front of you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.(J)
10 My heart races, my strength leaves me,
and even the light of my eyes has faded.[b](K)
11 My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction,
and my relatives stand at a distance.(L)
12 Those who intend to kill me set traps,
and those who want to harm me threaten to destroy me;
they plot treachery all day long.(M)
13 I am like a deaf person; I do not hear.
I am like a speechless person
who does not open his mouth.(N)
14 I am like a man who does not hear
and has no arguments in his mouth.(O)
15 For I put my hope in you, Lord;
you will answer me, my Lord, my God.(P)
16 For I said, “Don’t let them rejoice over me—
those who are arrogant toward me when I stumble.”(Q)
17 For I am about to fall,
and my pain is constantly with me.(R)
18 So I confess my iniquity;
I am anxious because of my sin.(S)
19 But my enemies are vigorous and powerful;[c]
many hate me for no reason.(T)
20 Those who repay evil for good
attack me for pursuing good.(U)
The Lord’s Mercy to Israel
18 Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy,
and is rising up to show you compassion,(A)
for the Lord is a just God.
All who wait patiently for him are happy.
19 For people will live on Zion in Jerusalem. You will never weep again; he will show favor to you at the sound of your outcry; as soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 The Lord will give you meager bread and water during oppression,(B) but your Teacher[a] will not hide any longer. Your eyes will see your Teacher, 21 and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”(C) 22 Then you will defile your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, and call them filth.
23 Then he will send rain for your seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures.(D) 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder scattered with winnowing shovel(E) and fork. 25 Streams flowing with water will be on every high mountain and every raised hill on the day of great slaughter when the towers fall. 26 The moonlight will be as bright as the sunlight, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter(F)—like the light of seven days—on the day(G) that the Lord bandages his people’s injuries and heals the wounds he inflicted.(H)
Mistaken for Gods in Lystra
8 In Lystra a man was sitting who was without strength in his feet, had never walked, and had been lame from birth. 9 He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And he jumped up and began to walk around.(A)
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” (B) 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.
14 The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting,(C) 15 “People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things(D) to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.[a](E) 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations(F) to go their own way, 17 although he did not leave himself without a witness,(G) since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons(H) and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.” 18 Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.
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