Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord Answers His People’s Prayer
65 I was ready to answer those who didn’t ask.
I was found by those who weren’t looking for me.
I said, “Here I am! Here I am!”
to a nation that didn’t worship me.
2 I stretched out my hands all day long to stubborn people.
They chose to go the wrong direction.
They followed their own plans.
3 These people constantly and openly provoked me.
They offered sacrifices in gardens
and burnt incense on brick altars.
4 They sat among the graves and spent their nights in caves.
They ate pork and in their pots made broth from unclean foods.
5 They said, “Stay away! Don’t touch me!
I’m holier than you are.”
They have become like smoke in my nose,
like a smoldering fire all day long.
6 “Look! It is written in front of me.
I will not be silent, but I will repay.
I will repay you in full.
7 I will repay you for your sins
and for the sins of your ancestors,” says Yahweh.
They burnt incense on the mountains and slandered me on the hills,
so I will be the first to pay them back in full.
8 This is what Yahweh says:
When someone finds juice for new wine in a cluster of grapes,
another person will say,
“Don’t destroy it, because there’s a blessing in it.”
In the same way, I will do this for my servants:
I will not destroy everything.
9 I will bring with me Jacob’s descendant,
one who will inherit my mountains from Judah.
My chosen ones will inherit them.
My servants will live there.
19 Do not be so far away, O Yahweh.
Come quickly to help me, O my strength.
20 Rescue my soul from the sword,
my life from vicious dogs.
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion
and from the horns of wild oxen.
You have answered me.
22 I will tell my people about your name.
I will praise you within the congregation.
23 All who fear Yahweh, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel.
24 Yahweh has not despised or been disgusted
with the plight of the oppressed one.
He has not hidden his face from that person.
Yahweh heard when that oppressed person
cried out to him for help.
25 My praise comes from you while I am among those assembled for worship.
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who fear Yahweh.
26 Oppressed people will eat until they are full.
Those who look to Yahweh will praise him.
May you live forever.
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and return to Yahweh.
All the families from all the nations will worship you
28 because the kingdom belongs to Yahweh
and he rules the nations.
23 We were kept under control by Moses’ laws until this faith came. We were under their control until this faith which was about to come would be revealed.
24 Before Christ came, Moses’ laws served as our guardian. Christ came so that we could receive God’s approval by faith. 25 But now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the control of a guardian. 26 You are all God’s children by believing in Christ Yeshua. 27 Clearly, all of you who were baptized in Christ’s name have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There are neither Jews nor Greeks, slaves nor free people, males nor females. You are all the same in Christ Yeshua. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs, as God promised.
Jesus Cures a Demon-Possessed Man(A)
26 They landed in the region of the Gerasenes across from Galilee. 27 When Yeshua stepped out on the shore, a certain man from the city met him. The man was possessed by demons and had not worn clothes for a long time. He would not stay in a house but lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Yeshua, he shouted, fell in front of him, and said in a loud voice, “Why are you bothering me, Yeshua, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!” 29 Yeshua ordered the evil spirit to come out of the man. (The evil spirit had controlled the man for a long time. People had kept him under guard. He was chained hand and foot. But he would break the chains. Then the demon would force him to go into the desert.)
30 Yeshua asked him, “What is your name?”
He answered, “Legion [Six Thousand].” (Many demons had entered him.) 31 The demons begged Yeshua not to order them to go into the bottomless pit.
32 A large herd of pigs was feeding on a mountainside. The demons begged Yeshua to let them enter those pigs. So he let them do this. 33 The demons came out of the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.
34 When those who had taken care of the pigs saw what had happened, they ran away. They reported everything in the city and countryside. 35 The people went to see what had happened. They came to Yeshua and found the man from whom the demons had gone out. Dressed and in his right mind, he was sitting at Yeshua’s feet. The people were frightened. 36 Those who had seen this told the people how Yeshua had restored the demon-possessed man to health.
37 Then all the people from the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Yeshua to leave because they were terrified.
Yeshua got into a boat and started back. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged him, “Let me go with you.”
But Yeshua sent the man away and told him, 39 “Go home to your family, and tell them how much God has done for you.” So the man left. He went through the whole city and told people how much Yeshua had done for him.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.