Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Protection from Enemies
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
preserve my life from dread of the enemy,
2 hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
from the scheming of evildoers,
3 who whet their tongues like swords,
who aim bitter words like arrows,
4 shooting from ambush at the blameless,
shooting at him suddenly and without fear.
5 They hold fast to their evil purpose;
they talk of laying snares secretly,
thinking, “Who can see us?[a]
6 Who can search out our crimes?[b]
We have thought out a cunningly conceived plot.”
For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep!
7 But God will shoot his arrow at them;
they will be wounded suddenly.
8 Because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin;[c]
all who see them will wag their heads.
9 Then all men will fear;
they will tell what God has wrought,
and ponder what he has done.
10 Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord,
and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart glory!
Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:
“You consider yourself a lion among the nations,
but you are like a dragon in the seas;
you burst forth in your rivers,
trouble the waters with your feet,
and foul their rivers.
3 Thus says the Lord God:
I will throw my net over you
with a host of many peoples;
and I[a] will haul you up in my dragnet.
4 And I will cast you on the ground,
on the open field I will fling you,
and will cause all the birds of the air to settle on you,
and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5 I will strew your flesh upon the mountains,
and fill the valleys with your carcass.[b]
6 I will drench the land even to the mountains
with your flowing blood;
and the watercourses will be full of you.
7 When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens,
and make their stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon shall not give its light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven
will I make dark over you,
and put darkness upon your land,
says the Lord God.
9 “I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I carry you captive[c] among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10 I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings shall shudder because of you, when I brandish my sword before them; they shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.
Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 And behold, a man from the crowd cried, “Teacher, I beg you to look upon my son, for he is my only child; 39 and behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him till he foams, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40 And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was coming, the demon tore him and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43 And all were astonished at the majesty of God.
Jesus Again Foretells His Death
But while they were all marveling at everything he did, he said to his disciples,
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.