Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
This psalm is a song that the sons of Korah wrote for the music leader. Use special music. It is a special song by Heman the Ezrahite.
A sad cry[a]
88 Lord, you are the God who rescues me.
I call out to you in the day,
and I pray for help at night.
2 Please listen to my prayer!
I am calling to you for help!
3 There is a lot of trouble in my life.
I feel that I am near to death.
4 People see me as if I am already in my grave.
I feel completely helpless.
5 I am the same as people who have died.
Their bodies already lie in their graves.
You do not remember them any more
You cannot use your power to help them.
6 You have put me in the deep hole of death,
far down in a very dark place.
7 Your anger is very heavy on me.
It is like the waves of the sea that knock me down.
8 You have caused my best friends
to keep away from me.
They do not even want to look at me.
A trap has caught me
and I cannot escape.
9 My eyes have become weak
because I am so sad.
Lord, every day I call to you for help.
I lift my hands up to you as I pray.
10 Your great miracles do not help dead people!
Dead people cannot get up and praise you!
Selah.
11 People in their graves
cannot talk about your faithful love!
In the world of death,
they cannot say how faithful you are.
12 In those dark places,
they do not see your miracles.
In that place where people forget everything,
they cannot know about the good things that you do.
13 But as for me, Lord,
I call to you for help.
Every morning I pray to you.
14 Lord, why do you throw me out?
Why do you turn away from me?
15 Since I was young, I have been in pain.
I have always been near to death.
You have caused bad troubles to frighten me,
so that I feel helpless.
16 Your anger is too much for me!
You are attacking me and destroying me!
17 The troubles that you send are all round me,
like a flood of deep water.
They come very near to me,
on every side.
18 You cause my friends and my neighbours
to stay away from me.
All that I have near to me is darkness.
Hezekiah's illness and his mistake
20 At that time, Hezekiah became very ill. He nearly died. Then Amoz's son, Isaiah the prophet, went to Hezekiah. He said to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You will soon die. You will not get better. So you must tell your family what to do after your death.” ’ 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall and he prayed to the Lord. 3 He said, ‘Lord, please remember that I have served you well. I have always obeyed you. You could trust me to do the things that you told me to do.’ Hezekiah wept very much.
4 While Isaiah was still in the middle yard of the palace, the Lord gave him this message: 5 ‘Go back! Say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, “This is what the Lord says, the God that your ancestor David worshipped. I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. I will make you well again. On the third day from now you will go to the Lord's temple. 6 I will let you live for 15 more years. I will rescue you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria. I will keep Jerusalem safe, because I do what is right and I made a promise to my servant David.” ’
7 Then Isaiah said, ‘Take some figs to make a medicine.’ So the king's servants did what Isaiah had said. They put the medicine on Hezekiah's boil. He became well again.
8 Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, ‘What will show me that the Lord will make me well again? How will I know that I will go up to the Lord's temple on the third day from now?’ 9 Isaiah answered, ‘The Lord will do a miracle to show you that he will do what he has promised. Do you want the shadow on these stairs to move down ten steps? Or do you want the shadow to go back up ten steps?’ 10 Hezekiah said, ‘It is easy to cause the shadow to move down ten steps. So I want it to go back up ten steps.’[a] 11 Then Isaiah the prophet asked the Lord to do this. The Lord caused the shadow to go back up ten steps on the stairs that King Ahaz had made.
Jesus helps a boy who has a bad spirit
14 They reached the place where the other disciples were. They saw that there was a large crowd there with them. Some teachers of God's Law were arguing with the disciples. 15 The people in the crowd saw Jesus and immediately they were very surprised. They ran to say ‘hello’ to Jesus.
16 Jesus asked his disciples, ‘What are you arguing about with the teachers of God's Law?’
17 A man in the crowd answered. He said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, I brought my son to you. He is not able to speak because he has a bad spirit. 18 When the bad spirit takes hold of him, it throws him to the ground. Water comes out of his mouth and he bites his teeth together. Then his body stops moving. I asked your disciples to send the spirit out of him. But they were not able to do it.’
19 Jesus replied, ‘You people today still do not believe in God. I have been with you for a long time and still you do not believe. It is difficult for me to be patient with you. Bring the boy to me.’
20 So the people brought the boy to Jesus. When the bad spirit saw Jesus, it immediately caused the boy's body to shake strongly. The boy fell onto the ground and he rolled about. Water was coming from his mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy's father, ‘How long has he been like this?’
‘He has been like this since he was a small boy,’ the father replied. 22 ‘Often the spirit has caused him to fall into the fire or into water. It is trying to kill him. Please be kind to us. If you can do anything, help us!’
23 Jesus said to the father, ‘You should not say, “If you can do anything.” Everything is possible for those people who believe.’
24 Immediately, the boy's father shouted, ‘Oh! I believe! Help me to believe more!’
25 Jesus saw that the crowd of people was quickly becoming bigger. So he told the bad spirit to stop. Jesus said to it, ‘Spirit, I am telling you that you must leave this boy. He cannot hear or speak because of you. I tell you to come out of him! You must never go into him again.’
26 The spirit screamed. It caused the boy's body to shake many times. Then it came out of him. The boy seemed to be dead, so many people said, ‘He is dead.’ 27 But Jesus held the boy's hand and he helped the boy to stand up.
28 Jesus went into a house and the disciples were alone with him. Then they asked him, ‘Why could we not cause the bad spirit to leave the boy?’
29 Jesus said to them, ‘You must pray. This kind of spirit will not leave a person unless you pray.’
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