Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, accepted [and acceptable], because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

² The Syrians had gone out in bands and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited on Naaman’s wife.

³ She said to her mistress, Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.

⁴ [Naaman] went in and told his king, Thus and thus said the maid from Israel.

⁵ And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

⁶ And he brought the letter to the king of Israel. It said, When this letter comes to you, I will with it have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of leprosy.

⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? Just consider and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.

⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent to the king, asking, Why have you rent your clothes? Let Naaman come now to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at Elisha’s door.

¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.

¹¹ But Naaman was angry and went away and said, Behold, I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and heal the leper.

¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

¹³ And his servants came near and said to him, My father, if the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather, then, when he says to you, Wash and be clean?

¹⁴ Then he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, as the man of God had said, and his flesh was restored like that of a little child, and he was clean.

Psalm 30

A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the Temple. [A Psalm] of David.

¹ I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.

² O Lord my God, I cried to You and You have healed me.

³ O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the place of the dead); You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit (the grave).

⁴ Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

⁵ For His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime or in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.^(A)

⁶ As for me, in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

⁷ By Your favor, O Lord, You have established me as a strong mountain; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.

⁸ I cried to You, O Lord, and to the Lord I made supplication.

⁹ What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit (the grave)? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth and faithfulness to men?

¹⁰ Hear, O Lord, have mercy and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!

¹¹ You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

¹² To the end that my tongue and my heart and everything glorious within me may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.

²⁵ Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither.

²⁶ Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary.

²⁷ But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit].

⁴⁰ And a leper came to Him, begging Him on his knees and saying to Him, If You are willing, You are able to make me clean.

⁴¹ And being moved with pity and sympathy, Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, and said to him, I am willing; be made clean!

⁴² And at once the leprosy [completely] left him and he was made clean [by being healed].

⁴³ And Jesus charged him sternly (sharply and threateningly, and with earnest admonition) and [acting with deep feeling thrust him forth and] sent him away at once,

⁴⁴ And said to him, See that you tell nothing [of this] to anyone; but begone, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your purification what Moses commanded, as a proof (an evidence and witness) to the people [that you are really healed].^(A)

⁴⁵ But he went out and began to talk so freely about it and blaze abroad the news [spreading it everywhere] that [Jesus] could no longer openly go into a town but was outside in [lonely] desert places. But the people kept on coming to Him from ^[a]all sides and every quarter.