Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer Against Enemies
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
64 God, listen to my complaint.
I am afraid of my enemies;
protect my life from them.
2 Hide me from those who plan wicked things,
from that gang who does evil.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords
and shoot bitter words like arrows.
4 From their hiding places they shoot at innocent people;
they shoot suddenly and are not afraid.
5 They encourage each other to do wrong.
They talk about setting traps,
thinking no one will see them.
6 They plan wicked things and say,
“We have a perfect plan.”
The mind of human beings is hard to understand.
7 But God will shoot them with arrows;
they will suddenly be struck down.
8 Their own words will be used against them.
All who see them will shake their heads.
9 Then everyone will fear God.
They will tell what God has done,
and they will learn from what he has done.
10 Good people will be happy in the Lord
and will find protection in him.
Let everyone who is honest praise the Lord.
A Funeral Song
32 It was in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month. The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: 2 “Human, sing a funeral song about the king of Egypt. Say to him:
‘You are like a young lion among the nations.
You are like a crocodile in the seas.
You splash around in your streams
and stir up the water with your feet,
making the rivers muddy.
3 “‘This is what the Lord God says:
I will spread my net over you,
and I will use a large group of people
to pull you up in my net.
4 Then I will throw you on the land
dropping you onto the ground.
I will let the birds of the sky rest on you
and all the animals of the earth eat you until they are full.
5 I will scatter your flesh on the mountains
and fill the valleys with what is left of you.
6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood
as far as the mountains,
and the ravines will be full of your flesh.
7 When I make you disappear,
I will cover the sky and make the stars dark.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon will not shine.
8 I will make all the shining lights in the sky
become dark over you;
I will bring darkness over your land,
says the Lord God.
9 I will cause many people to be afraid
when I bring you as a captive into other nations,
to lands you have not known.
10 I will cause many people to be shocked about you.
Their kings will tremble with fear because of you
when I swing my sword in front of them.
They will shake every moment
on the day you fall;
each king will be afraid for his own life.
Jesus Heals a Sick Boy
37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus. 38 A man in the crowd shouted to him, “Teacher, please come and look at my son, because he is my only child. 39 An evil spirit seizes my son, and suddenly he screams. It causes him to lose control of himself and foam at the mouth. The evil spirit keeps on hurting him and almost never leaves him. 40 I begged your followers to force the evil spirit out, but they could not do it.”
41 Jesus answered, “You people have no faith, and your lives are all wrong. How long must I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
42 While the boy was coming, the demon threw him on the ground and made him lose control of himself. But Jesus gave a strong command to the evil spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 All the people were amazed at the great power of God.
Jesus Talks About His Death
While everyone was wondering about all that Jesus did, he said to his followers,
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.