Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Punishment and salvation
65 The Lord says,
‘I was ready to answer,
even when my people did not ask me anything.
I showed myself to people
who were not even looking for me.
I said, “Look! Here I am!” to a nation
who did not even use my name to pray.
2 All the time, I have been ready to help my people,
even though they turned against me.
But they continue to live in a way that is not good.
They do whatever they want to do.
3 They continue to make me angry,
as they insult me without shame.
They offer sacrifices to their idols in their gardens.
They burn incense to them
on altars that are made from bricks.
4 They sit among the graves
and they hide in caves.[a]
They eat meat from pigs.
They use unclean meat to make their soup.
5 They say to each other,
“Keep away from me! Do not come near me!
I am too holy for you!”
These people are like smoke in my nose!
They are like a fire that burns all day.’
6 The Lord says,
‘Look! I have decided what I will do,
and I have written it down:
I will not keep quiet.
I will punish them completely.
I will give them everything that they deserve,
7 as punishment for their sins
and for the sins of their ancestors.
They burned incense to their idols on the mountains,
and they insulted me on the hills.
So I will punish them completely,
as much as they deserve.’
8 This is what the Lord says:
‘If grapes still have some juice in them,
someone will say, “Do not destroy them.
There is some juice there that we can use.”
I will do the same thing for my servants.
I will not destroy them all.
9 I will cause Jacob's family to have descendants.
There will be people of Judah's family
who will live on my mountains.
The land will belong to the people that I have chosen.
My servants will live there.
19 But Lord, please do not stay far away from me!
You can make me strong again.
Please hurry to help me!
20 Keep me safe!
My enemies want to kill me with their swords.
Save my life from those wild dogs!
21 Do not let those lions eat me!
Keep me safe from the horns of those wild bulls!
I know that you have answered my prayer!
22 I will tell my people how great you are.
I will praise you when we meet together.
23 Everyone who serves the Lord must praise him!
All Jacob's descendants must respect him!
Yes, all Israel's people must worship him!
24 God did not forget to help the man who was in pain.
He did not turn away from the one who suffered.
When he called to God for help,
God answered his prayer.[a]
25 Yes, I will praise you, God,
in the great meeting of your people.
I will give to you what I have promised to give.
Everyone who serves you, Lord, will see that.
26 Poor people will have plenty of food to eat.
Those who come to the Lord will praise him.
May God help you to live well for ever!
27 People everywhere in the world will respect the Lord.
They will turn to him for help.
Families from all nations will worship you.
28 The Lord rules as king over all the nations.
23 But before God showed us the way of faith, the Law had authority over us. God's Law kept us safe, until God showed us that we must believe in Christ. 24 In that way, God's Law was like our guide. It kept us safe until Christ came. Then God could accept us as right because we trusted Christ. 25 But now that the way of faith in Christ has come, we do not need God's Law to keep us safe any longer.
26 All of you are God's children because you believe in Christ Jesus. 27 They baptized you as believers in Christ. That means that you have put on Christ, like someone who puts on new clothes. 28 It does not matter whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. It does not matter whether you are a slave or a free person. It does not matter whether you are a man or a woman. You all belong together because you all belong to Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are descendants of Abraham. Because of that, you will receive all the good things that God promised to Abraham.
Jesus makes a man well
26 Jesus and his disciples went to the place where the Gerasene people lived. This place is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus got out of the boat there, a man from the town came towards him. Bad spirits were living inside him. He had not worn any clothes for a long time. He did not live in a house. Instead, he lived outside, among some graves. 28 When he saw Jesus, he screamed. Then he went down on his knees in front of Jesus and said in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, you are the Son of the powerful God who is over all! What are you doing here? Please do not hurt me.’ 29 He said that because Jesus had already said to the bad spirit, ‘Come out of this man.’
The bad spirit had often taken hold of the man, so people watched him carefully. They held his feet with metal chains. But when the bad spirit took hold of him, he often broke the chains. The bad spirit then caused him to go into the wilderness.
30 Jesus asked the man, ‘What is your name?’ The man replied, ‘My name is Army.’ He said this because very many bad spirits had gone into him.[a] 31 These bad spirits asked Jesus not to send them away to the world below.[b]
32 There was a large group of pigs there and they were eating on the hill. The bad spirits asked Jesus, ‘Let us go into the pigs.’ Jesus replied, ‘You can go into them.’ 33 So the bad spirits came out of the man and they went into the pigs. All the pigs rushed together down the hill into the lake. They all died there in the water.
34 The men who were taking care of the pigs saw this happen. They ran away. They told the people in the town and in the villages what had happened. 35 So the people went out from these places to see what had happened. They came to Jesus. The man that the bad spirits had come out of was sitting there, beside Jesus' feet. Now he was wearing clothes and his mind was well again. When the people saw this, they were afraid. 36 Some people had seen Jesus make the man well. They told the other people how he had done this. 37 Then all the Gerasene people who lived in that place said to Jesus, ‘Please go away and leave us.’ They said this because they were very afraid. So Jesus got back into the boat to leave that place. 38 Then the man that the bad spirits had gone out from said to Jesus, ‘Please let me come with you.’ But Jesus replied, ‘No. 39 You must return to your home. Tell everyone about all that God has done for you.’
So the man went away. He went everywhere in the town and told all the people, ‘Jesus has done very good things for me.’
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