Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 38[a]
Prayer of a Sinner in Great Peril
1 A psalm of David. For remembrance.[b]
2 O Lord, do not punish me in your anger
or chastise me in your wrath.
3 For your arrows[c] have pierced me deeply,
and your hand has come down upon me.
4 No portion of my body[d] has been unscathed
as a result of your anger;
my bones have become weak
as a result of my sins.
5 My iniquities tower far above my head;[e]
they are a burden too heavy to bear.
6 My wounds are fetid and fester
because of my folly.
7 I am bowed down and bent over,
as I spend each day in sorrow.
8 My loins are filled with searing pain;
no part of my body[f] is unafflicted.
9 I am numb and completely crushed,
and I groan in anguish of heart.[g]
10 O Lord, all my longing is known to you,
and my sighs are not hidden from you.
11 My heart throbs, and my strength is spent;
even the light has faded from my eyes.
12 My friends and companions stay away from my affliction,
and my neighbors keep their distance.
13 Those who seek my life set traps;
those who wish me harm threaten violence
and plot treachery all day long.[h]
14 [i]But I am like a man who cannot hear,
like one who cannot open his mouth.
15 I am like one who hears nothing
and has no answer to offer.
16 I place my hope in you, O Lord;
you, O Lord, my God, will answer for me.
17 For I prayed, “Never let them gloat over me
or exult should my foot slip.”
18 I am at the point of exhaustion,
and my grief is with me constantly.
19 I acknowledge my iniquity,
and I sincerely grieve for my sin.
20 [j]Numerous and strong are my enemies without cause;
many are those who hate me without good reason.[k]
21 Those who repay my good deeds with evil
oppose me because I follow a path of righteousness.
22 Do not abandon me, O Lord;
my God, do not remain far from me.
23 Come quickly to my aid,
O Lord, my Savior.
18 But even so the Lord is waiting to be gracious to you,
and he will rise up to grant you his compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.
19 O people of Zion who dwell in Jerusalem,
you will weep no more.
The Lord will be gracious to you
when you cry out to him for help;
when he hears your call,
he will answer you.
20 Although the Lord may give you the bread of adversity
and the water of affliction,
he who is your Teacher will no longer hide himself,
but with your own eyes you will see your Teacher.
21 And when you stray from your path,
whether to the right or to the left,
you will hear his voice behind you,
sounding in your ears and saying,
“This is the way; continue to follow it.”
22 Then you will realize how unclean
are your silver-plated idols
and your gold-plated images.
You will cast them away like polluted rags
and shout at them, “Away with you!”
God’s Promise of Prosperity
23 God will send rain
for the seed you sow in the ground,
and the crops that the soil brings forth
will be rich and abundant.
When that day comes,
your cattle will graze in broad pastures.
24 The oxen and the donkeys that plow the land
will be fed with fodder
that has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill
there will be streams of water
on the day of the great slaughter
when the strongholds fall.
26 The light of the moon will match that of the sun,
and the light of the sun itself
will be seven times brighter than before,
like the light of seven days compressed into one,
when the Lord binds up the wounds of his people
and heals the injuries inflicted by his blows.
At Lystra Paul and Barnabas Are Taken for Gods.[a] 8 At Lystra, there was a man who was crippled. Lame from birth, he had never once been able to walk. 9 He listened to Paul speaking. Paul looked intently at him, and, seeing that he had the faith to be healed, 10 called out to him in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet.” The man sprang up and began to walk.
11 [b]When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 They called Barnabas Zeus, and since Paul was the chief speaker, they called him Hermes. 13 And the priest of Zeus, who was on the outskirts of the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, since he and the people intended to offer sacrifice.
14 However, when the apostles Barnabas and Paul learned about this, they tore their clothes[c] and rushed into the crowd, shouting, 15 “Men, why are you doing this? We are only human beings, just like you. We proclaim to you the good news so that you may turn from these idols to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them.
16 “In the past, God allowed all the Gentiles to go their own way. 17 However, even then he did not leave you without a witness in doing good, for he sends you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons, and he provides you with food and fills your hearts with joy.” 18 Yet, even with these words, they were barely able to prevent the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.