Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
By David.
35 O Lord, attack those who attack me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Use your shields, ⌞both⌟ small and large.
Arise to help me.
3 Hold your spear to block the way of those who pursue me.
Say to my soul, “I am your savior.”
4 Let those who seek my life be put to shame and disgraced.
Let those who plan my downfall be turned back in confusion.
5 Let them be like husks blown by the wind
as the Messenger of the Lord chases them.
6 Let their path be dark and slippery
as the Messenger of the Lord pursues them.
7 For no reason they hid their net in a pit.
For no reason they dug the pit ⌞to trap me⌟.
8 Let destruction surprise them.
Let the net that they hid catch them.
Let them fall into their own pit and be destroyed.
9 My soul will find joy in the Lord
and be joyful about his salvation.
10 All my bones will say, “O Lord, who can compare with you?
You rescue the weak person from the one who is too strong for him
and weak and needy people from the one who robs them.”
Jeremiah Writes to the Captives in Babylon
29 The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter from Jerusalem to the rest of the leaders among the captives. He also sent it to the priests, the prophets, and all the people that Nebuchadnezzar took away as captives from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King Jehoiakin [a] and his mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and metal workers left Jerusalem.) 3 He sent the letter with Shaphan’s son Elasah and Hilkiah’s son Gemariah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah had sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. The letter said:
4 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all those who were taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses, and live in them. Plant gardens, and eat what they produce. 6 Get married, and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters get married so that they can have sons and daughters. Grow in number there; don’t decrease. 7 Work for the good of the city where I’ve taken you as captives, and pray to the Lord for that city. When it prospers, you will also prosper.
8 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Don’t let the prophets or the mediums who are among you trick you. Don’t even listen to your own dreams. 9 These people are prophesying lies to you in my name. I didn’t send them, declares the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: When Babylon’s 70 years are over, I will come to you. I will keep my promise to you and bring you back to this place. 11 I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. 12 Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 When you look for me, you will find me. When you wholeheartedly seek me, 14 I will let you find me, declares the Lord. I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I’ve scattered you, declares the Lord. I will bring you back from the place where you are being held captive.
Jesus Cures a Demon-Possessed Man(A)
5 They arrived in the territory of the Gerasenes on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. 2 As Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man came out of the tombs and met him. The man was controlled by an evil spirit 3 and lived among the tombs. No one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. 4 He had often been chained hand and foot. However, he snapped the chains off his hands and broke the chains from his feet. No one could control him. 5 Night and day he was among the tombs and on the mountainsides screaming and cutting himself with stones.
6 The man saw Jesus at a distance. So he ran ⌞to Jesus⌟, bowed down in front of him, 7 and shouted, “Why are you bothering me now, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me.” 8 He shouted this because Jesus said, “You evil spirit, come out of the man.”
9 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
He told Jesus, “My name is Legion [Six Thousand], because there are many of us.” 10 He begged Jesus not to send them out of the territory.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on a mountainside nearby. 12 The demons begged him, “Send us into the pigs! Let us enter them!”
13 Jesus let them do this. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea and drowned.
14 Those who took care of the pigs ran away. In the city and countryside they reported everything that had happened. So the people came to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. The man was sitting there dressed and in his right mind. The people were frightened. 16 Those who saw this told what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. 17 Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their territory.
18 As Jesus stepped into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him, “Let me stay with you.” 19 But Jesus would not allow it. Instead, he told the man, “Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you.”
20 So the man left. He began to tell how much Jesus had done for him in the Ten Cities.[a] Everyone was amazed.
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