Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 17
A Prayer of David.
1 Hear a just cause, O Lord,
attend to my cry;
give ear to my prayer
that is not spoken from deceitful lips.
2 May my sentence go out from Your presence;
may Your eyes see rightly.
3 You have examined my heart; You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4 Concerning the works of men,
by the word of Your lips
I have avoided
the paths of the violent,
5 placing my steps in Your paths,
that my footsteps do not slip.
6 I called on You, for You will answer me, O God;
incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.
7 Show marvelously Your lovingkindness,
O Deliverer of those who seek refuge
by Your right hand from those who arise in opposition.
8 Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
9 from the wicked who bring ruin to me,
from my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They close their hard hearts;
with their mouth they speak proudly.
11 They have now encircled us in our steps;
they have set their eyes to bend down to the earth;
12 it is like a lion that is anxious to rip its prey,
and as a young lion lurking in secrecy.
13 Arise, O Lord! Confront him, cast him down!
Deliver my soul from the wicked by Your sword,
14 from men by Your hand, O Lord,
from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their belly with Your treasure;
they are satisfied with children,
and they leave their abundance to their infants.
15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness;
I will be satisfied when I awake with Your likeness.
5 Thus says the Lord:
Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
and whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he will be like a bush in the desert
and will not see when good comes,
but will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salt land and not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
and whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters,
and that spreads out its roots by the river,
and shall not fear when heat comes,
but its leaf shall be green,
and it shall not be anxious in the year of drought,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is more deceitful than all things
and desperately wicked;
who can understand it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
even to give to every man according to his ways,
and according to the fruit of his deeds.
11 As the partridge sits on eggs which it has not laid,
so is he who gets riches, but not justly;
it will forsake him in the midst of his days,
and in the end he will be a fool.
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, the Hope of Israel,
all who forsake You will be ashamed.
“Those who depart from Me in the earth will be written down,
because they have forsaken the Lord,
the fountain of living waters.”
Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;
save me, and I will be saved,
for You are my praise.
15 See how they say to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come now!”
16 As for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd after You,
nor have I desired the woeful day;
You Yourself know that which came out of my lips was in Your presence.
17 Do not be a terror to me;
You are my hope in the day of disaster.
18 Let those who persecute me be humiliated,
but let me not be humiliated;
let them be dismayed,
but let me not be dismayed.
Bring upon them the day of evil,
and destroy them with double destruction.
Jesus and Beelzebub(A)
22 Then one possessed with a demon was brought to Him, blind and mute, and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23 All the people were amazed and said, “Is He not the Son of David?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This Man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons.”
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. And every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. Then how will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 “Or else how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
30 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. 31 Therefore I say to you, all kinds of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the world to come.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.