Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Trusting God for Help
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Dove in the Distant Oak.” A miktam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.
56 God, be merciful to me because people are chasing me;
the battle has pressed me all day long.
2 My enemies have chased me all day;
there are many proud people fighting me.
3 When I am afraid,
I will trust you.
4 I praise God for his word.
I trust God, so I am not afraid.
What can human beings do to me?
5 All day long they twist my words;
all their evil plans are against me.
6 They wait. They hide.
They watch my steps,
hoping to kill me.
7 God, do not let them escape;
punish the foreign nations in your anger.
8 You have recorded my troubles.
You have kept a list of my tears.
Aren’t they in your records?
9 On the day I call for help, my enemies will be defeated.
I know that God is on my side.
10 I praise God for his word to me;
I praise the Lord for his word.
11 I trust in God. I will not be afraid.
What can people do to me?
12 God, I must keep my promises to you.
I will give you my offerings to thank you,
13 because you have saved me from death.
You have kept me from being defeated.
So I will walk with God
in light among the living.
Naaman Is Healed
5 Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was honored by his master, and he had much respect because the Lord used him to give victory to Aram. He was a mighty and brave man, but he had a skin disease.
2 The Arameans had gone out to raid the Israelites and had taken a little girl as a captive. This little girl served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “I wish my master would meet the prophet who lives in Samaria. He would cure him of his disease.”
4 Naaman went to the king and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 The king of Aram said, “Go ahead, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left and took with him about seven hundred fifty pounds of silver, as well as one hundred fifty pounds of gold and ten changes of clothes. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “I am sending my servant Naaman to you so you can heal him of his skin disease.”
7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was. He said, “I’m not God! I can’t kill and make alive again! Why does this man send someone with a skin disease for me to heal? You can see that the king of Aram is trying to start trouble with me.”
8 When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent the king this message: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let Naaman come to me. Then he will know there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots to Elisha’s house and stood outside the door.
10 Elisha sent Naaman a messenger who said, “Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Then your skin will be healed, and you will be clean.”
11 Naaman became angry and left. He said, “I thought Elisha would surely come out and stand before me and call on the name of the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over the place and heal the disease. 12 The Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than all the waters of Israel. Why can’t I wash in them and become clean?” So Naaman went away very angry.
13 Naaman’s servants came near and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? Doesn’t it make more sense just to do it? After all, he only told you, ‘Wash, and you will be clean.’” 14 So Naaman went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, just as Elisha had said. Then his skin became new again, like the skin of a child. And he was clean.
13 The one who has the gift of speaking in a different language should pray for the gift to interpret what is spoken. 14 If I pray in a different language, my spirit is praying, but my mind does nothing. 15 So what should I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 16 If you praise God with your spirit, those persons there without understanding cannot say amen[a] to your prayer of thanks, because they do not know what you are saying. 17 You may be thanking God in a good way, but the other person is not helped.
18 I thank God that I speak in different kinds of languages more than all of you. 19 But in the church meetings I would rather speak five words I understand in order to teach others than thousands of words in a different language.
20 Brothers and sisters, do not think like children. In evil things be like babies, but in your thinking you should be like adults. 21 It is written in the Scriptures:
“With people who use strange words and foreign languages
I will speak to these people.
But even then they will not listen to me,” Isaiah 28:11–12
says the Lord.
22 So the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages is a sign for those who do not believe, not for those who do believe. And prophecy is for people who believe, not for those who do not believe. 23 Suppose the whole church meets together and everyone speaks in different languages. If some people come in who do not understand or do not believe, they will say you are crazy. 24 But suppose everyone is prophesying and some people come in who do not believe or do not understand. If everyone is prophesying, their sin will be shown to them, and they will be judged by all that they hear. 25 The secret things in their hearts will be made known. So they will bow down and worship God saying, “Truly, God is with you.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.