Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer of Thanks

30 I will lift You up, O Lord, for You have lifted me up. You have not let those who hate me stand over me in joy. ² O Lord my God, I cried to You for help and You healed me. ³ O Lord, You have brought me up from the grave. You have kept me alive, so that I will not go down into the deep. ⁴ Sing praise to the Lord, all you who belong to Him. Give thanks to His holy name. ⁵ For His anger lasts only a short time. But His favor is for life. Crying may last for a night, but joy comes with the new day.

⁶ As for me, when all was going well, I said, “I will never be moved.” ⁷ O Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong. But when You hid Your face, I was troubled. ⁸ I cried to You, O Lord. I begged the Lord for loving-kindness. ⁹ What good will come from my blood, if I go down to the grave? Will the dust thank You? Will it tell how You are faithful?

¹⁰ Hear, O Lord. And show me loving-kindness. O Lord, be my Helper. ¹¹ You have turned my crying into dancing.You have taken off my clothes made from hair, and dressed me with joy. ¹² So my soul may sing praise to You, and not be quiet. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

²¹ “But if he is poor and does not have enough money for so much, he will take one male lamb for a guilt gift, a wave gift, to pay for his sins. And he will take one-tenth part of a basket of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain gift, a jar of oil, ²² and two turtle-doves or two young pigeons, whatever he is able to buy. One will be a sin gift and the other a burnt gift. ²³ On the eighth day he will bring them to the religious leader at the door of the meeting tent before the Lord so he can be made clean. ²⁴ The religious leader will take the lamb of the guilt gift and the jar of oil. And the religious leader will wave them as the wave gift before the Lord. ²⁵ Then he will kill the lamb of the guilt gift. The religious leader will take some of the blood of the guilt gift and put it on the bottom part of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand and the big toe of the right foot of the person to be made clean. ²⁶ The religious leader will pour some of the oil into his left hand. ²⁷ The religious leader will put a finger of his right hand into the oil that is in the left hand seven times before the Lord. ²⁸ Then the religious leader will put some of the oil in his hand on the bottom part of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand and the big toe of the right foot of the person to be made clean. It will be put on the place where he has put the blood of the guilt gift. ²⁹ The rest of the oil in the religious leader’s hand will be put on the head of the person to be made clean, to pay for his sins before the Lord. ³⁰ Then he will give one of the turtle-doves or young pigeons that he was able to buy. ³¹ He will give what he is able to give, one for a sin gift and the other for a burnt gift, together with the grain gift. So the religious leader will pay for the sins of the person to be made clean before the Lord. ³² This is the law for him who had a bad skin disease and is not able to buy what is needed for making him clean.”

Mary of Bethany Puts Special Perfume on Jesus ^(A)

⁶ Jesus was in the town of Bethany in the house of Simon. Simon had a very bad skin disease. ⁷ A woman came with a jar of perfume. She had given much money for this. As Jesus ate, she poured the perfume on His head. ⁸ When the followers saw it, they were angry. They said, “Why was this wasted? ⁹ This perfume could have been sold for much money and given to poor people.”

¹⁰ Jesus knew what they were saying. He said to them, “Why are you giving this woman trouble? She has done a good thing to Me. ¹¹ You will have poor people with you all the time. But you will not have Me with you all the time. ¹² She put this perfume on My body to make it ready for the grave. ¹³ For sure, I tell you, wherever this Good News is preached in all the world, this woman will be remembered for what she has done.”