Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 130

A song of ascents.

¹³ A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread^(A) in the second month. ¹⁴ They removed the altars^(B) in Jerusalem and cleared away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.^(C)

¹⁵ They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated^(D) themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of the Lord. ¹⁶ Then they took up their regular positions^(E) as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them by the Levites. ¹⁷ Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill^(F) the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs^[a] to the Lord. ¹⁸ Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves,^(G) yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone ¹⁹ who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” ²⁰ And the Lord heard^(H) Hezekiah and healed^(I) the people.^(J)

²¹ The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread^(K) for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests praised the Lord every day with resounding instruments dedicated to the Lord.^[b]

²² Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the Lord. For the seven days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised^[c] the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

²³ The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate^(L) the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. ²⁴ Hezekiah king of Judah provided^(M) a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep and goats for the assembly, and the officials provided them with a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep and goats. A great number of priests consecrated themselves. ²⁵ The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel^(N), including the foreigners who had come from Israel and also those who resided in Judah. ²⁶ There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon^(O) son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The priests and the Levites stood to bless^(P) the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man^(A)

2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers^(B) that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,^(C) carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”^(D)

⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”^(E)

⁸ Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I want you to know that the Son of Man^(F) has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹ “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹² He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God,^(G) saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”^(H)