Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Mercy in Troubled Times
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Upon the sheminith. A psalm of David.
6 Lord, don’t correct me when you are angry;
don’t punish me when you are very angry.
2 Lord, have mercy on me because I am weak.
Heal me, Lord, because my bones ache.
3 I am very upset.
Lord, how long will it be?
4 Lord, return and save me;
save me because of your kindness.
5 Dead people don’t remember you;
those in the grave don’t praise you.
6 I am tired of crying to you.
Every night my bed is wet with tears;
my bed is soaked from my crying.
7 My eyes are weak from so much crying;
they are weak from crying about my enemies.
8 Get away from me, all you who do evil,
because the Lord has heard my crying.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for help;
the Lord will answer my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and troubled.
They will turn and suddenly leave in shame.
16 “Now my life is almost over;
my days are full of suffering.
17 At night my bones ache;
gnawing pains never stop.
18 In his great power God grabs hold of my clothing
and chokes me with the collar of my coat.
19 He throws me into the mud,
and I become like dirt and ashes.
20 “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;
I stand up, but you just look at me.
21 You have turned on me without mercy;
with your powerful hand you attacked me.
22 You snatched me up and threw me into the wind
and tossed me about in the storm.
23 I know you will bring me down to death,
to the place where all living people must go.
24 “Surely no one would hurt those who are ruined
when they cry for help in their time of trouble.
25 I cried for those who were in trouble;
I have been very sad for poor people.
26 But when I hoped for good, only evil came to me;
when I looked for light, darkness came.
27 I never stop being upset;
days of suffering are ahead of me.
28 I have turned black, but not by the sun.
I stand up in public and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother to wild dogs
and a friend to ostriches.
30 My skin has become black and peels off,
as my body burns with fever.
31 My harp is tuned to sing a sad song,
and my flute is tuned to moaning.
46 Jesus went again to visit Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. One of the king’s important officers lived in the city of Capernaum, and his son was sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum and heal his son, because his son was almost dead. 48 Jesus said to him, “You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me.”
49 The officer said, “Sir, come before my child dies.”
50 Jesus answered, “Go. Your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus told him and went home. 51 On the way the man’s servants came and met him and told him, “Your son is alive.”
52 The man asked, “What time did my son begin to get well?”
They answered, “Yesterday at one o’clock the fever left him.”
53 The father knew that one o’clock was the exact time that Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So the man and all the people who lived in his house believed in Jesus.
54 That was the second miracle Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.