Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble

6 O Lord, do not speak sharp words to me in Your anger, or punish me when You are angry. ² Be kind to me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me for my bones are shaken. ³ My soul is in great suffering. But You, O Lord, how long? ⁴ Return, O Lord. Set my soul free. Save me because of Your loving-kindness. ⁵ No one remembers You when he is dead. Who gives You praise from the grave? ⁶ I am tired of crying inside myself. All night long my pillow is wet with tears. I flood my bed with them. ⁷ My eye has grown weak with sorrow. It has grown old because of all who hate me. ⁸ Go away from me, all you who sin. For the Lord has heard the sound of my crying. ⁹ The Lord has heard my cry for help. The Lord receives my prayer. ¹⁰ All those who hate me will be ashamed and worried. They will turn away. They will be put to shame right away.

¹⁶ “Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of trouble have taken hold of me. ¹⁷ Night cuts into my bones with pain. The pain keeps on and takes no rest. ¹⁸ My clothing is torn by a strong power. It pulls against me like the top of my coat. ¹⁹ God has thrown me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes. ²⁰ I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me. I stand up, and You turn away from me. ²¹ You work against me. With the power of Your hand you make it hard for me. ²² You lift me up to the wind and make it carry me. You throw me around in the storm. ²³ For I know that You will bring me to death, to the place for all the living.

²⁴ “Yet does not one in a destroyed place put out his hand, and in his trouble cry out for help? ²⁵ Have I not cried for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul filled with sorrow for the poor? ²⁶ When I expected good, then trouble came. When I waited for light, darkness came. ²⁷ My heart is troubled and does not rest. Days of trouble are before me. ²⁸ I go about full of sorrow without comfort. I stand up where the people are gathered and cry out for help. ²⁹ I have become a brother to wild dogs, and a friend of ostriches. ³⁰ My skin becomes black and falls from me. My bones burn because I am sick. ³¹ So my harp is turned to sorrow, and my horn to the sound of crying.

Jesus Heals the Dying Boy in Capernaum

⁴⁶ Jesus came again to the town of Cana of Galilee where He had made water into wine. A man who worked with the king had a son who was sick in the city of Capernaum. ⁴⁷ This man went to Jesus. He had heard that Jesus had come from the country of Judea to Galilee. The man asked Jesus if He would go to Capernaum and heal his son who was dying. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see special things and powerful works done, you will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The man said to Him, “Sir, come with me before my son dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son will live.” The man put his trust in what Jesus said and left.

⁵¹ As he was on his way home, his servants met him. They said to him, “Your son is living!” ⁵² He asked them what time his boy began to get well. They said to him, “Yesterday at one o’clock the sickness left.” ⁵³ The father knew it was the time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” He and everyone in his house put their trust in Jesus. ⁵⁴ This was the second powerful work that Jesus did after He came from the country of Judea to the country of Galilee.