Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer in Time of Sickness
A song of David to remember.
38 Lord, don’t correct me when you are angry.
Don’t punish me when you are very angry.
2 Your arrows have wounded me.
Your hand has come down on me.
3 My body is sick from your punishment.
Even my bones are not healthy because of my sin.
4 My guilt has overwhelmed me.
Like a load it weighs me down.
5 My sores stink and become infected
because I was foolish.
6 I am bent over and bowed down.
I am sad all day long.
7 I am burning with fever.
My whole body is sore.
8 I am weak and faint.
I moan from the pain I feel.
9 Lord, you know everything I want.
My cries are not hidden from you.
10 My heart pounds, and my strength is gone.
I am losing my sight.
11 Because of my wounds, my friends and neighbors leave me alone.
My relatives stay far away.
12 Some people set traps to kill me.
Those who want to hurt me plan trouble.
All day long they think up lies.
13 I am like a deaf man; I cannot hear.
Like a mute, I cannot speak.
14 I am like a person who does not hear.
I have no answer to give.
15 I trust you, Lord.
You will answer, my God and Lord.
16 I said, “Don’t let them laugh at me.
Don’t let them brag when I am defeated.”
17 I am about to die.
I cannot forget my pain.
18 I confess my guilt.
I am troubled by my sin.
19 My enemies are strong and healthy.
Many people hate me for no reason.
20 They repay me with evil for the good I did.
They lie about me because I try to do good.
21 Lord, don’t leave me.
My God, don’t go away.
22 Quickly come and help me,
my Lord and Savior.
The Mountain of the Lord
4 In the last days
the mountain on which the Lord’s Temple stands
will become the most important of all mountains.
It will be raised above the hills.
People from other nations will come streaming to it.
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.
Let us go to the Temple of the God of Jacob!
Then God will teach us his ways.
And we will obey his teachings.”
The Lord’s teachings will go out from Jerusalem.
The word of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem.
3 The Lord will settle arguments among many nations.
He will decide between strong nations that are far away.
Then the nations will make their swords into plows.
They will make their spears into hooks for trimming trees.
Nations will no longer fight other nations.
They will not even train for war anymore.
4 Everyone will sit under his own vine and fig tree.
No one will make him afraid.
This is because the Lord of heaven’s armies has said it.
5 All other nations follow their own gods.
But we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.
6 The Lord says, “At that time,
I will bring back to me the crippled.
I will bring back to Jerusalem those who were sent away.
I will bring back to me those who were hurt.
7 I will keep alive those who were crippled.
I will make a strong nation of those who were sent away.
The Lord will be their king in Mount Zion forever.
Paul Answers Those Who Accuse Him
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted.
Also from Timothy our brother in Christ.
To the church of God in Corinth, and to all of God’s people in the whole country of Southern Greece:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul Gives Thanks to God
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the Father who is full of mercy. And he is the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us every time we have trouble, so that we can comfort others when they have trouble. We can comfort them with the same comfort that God gives us. 5 We share in the many sufferings of Christ. In the same way, much comfort comes to us through Christ. 6 If we have troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we have comfort, then you also have comfort. This helps you to accept patiently the same sufferings that we have. 7 Our hope for you is strong. We know that you share in our sufferings. So we know that you also share in the comfort we receive.
8 Brothers, we want you to know about the trouble we suffered in the country of Asia. We had great burdens there that were greater than our own strength. We even gave up hope for life. 9 Truly, in our own hearts we believed that we would die. But this happened so that we would not trust in ourselves. It happened so that we would trust in God, who raises people from death. 10 God saved us from these great dangers of death. And he will continue to save us. We have put our hope in him, and he will save us again. 11 And you can help us with your prayers. Then many people will give thanks for us—that God blessed us because of their many prayers.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.