Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Mercy in Troubled Times
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Upon the sheminith. A psalm of David.
6 Lord, don’t correct me when you are angry;
don’t punish me when you are very angry.
2 Lord, have mercy on me because I am weak.
Heal me, Lord, because my bones ache.
3 I am very upset.
Lord, how long will it be?
4 Lord, return and save me;
save me because of your kindness.
5 Dead people don’t remember you;
those in the grave don’t praise you.
6 I am tired of crying to you.
Every night my bed is wet with tears;
my bed is soaked from my crying.
7 My eyes are weak from so much crying;
they are weak from crying about my enemies.
8 Get away from me, all you who do evil,
because the Lord has heard my crying.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for help;
the Lord will answer my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and troubled.
They will turn and suddenly leave in shame.
19 Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”
Naaman left Elisha and went a short way. 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “My master has not accepted what Naaman the Aramean brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I’ll run after him and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi went after Naaman.
When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got off the chariot to meet Gehazi. He asked, “Is everything all right?”
22 Gehazi said, “Everything is all right. My master has sent me. He said, ‘Two young men from the groups of prophets in the mountains of Ephraim just came to me. Please give them seventy-five pounds of silver and two changes of clothes.’”
23 Naaman said, “Please take one hundred fifty pounds,” and he urged Gehazi to take it. He tied one hundred fifty pounds of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes. Then he gave them to two of his servants to carry for Gehazi. 24 When they came to the hill, Gehazi took these things from Naaman’s servants and put them in the house. Then he let Naaman’s servants go, and they left.
25 When he came in and stood before his master, Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”
“I didn’t go anywhere,” he answered.
26 But Elisha said to him, “My spirit was with you. I knew when the man turned from his chariot to meet you. This isn’t a time to take money, clothes, olives, grapes, sheep, oxen, male servants, or female servants. 27 So Naaman’s skin disease will come on you and your children forever.” When Gehazi left Elisha, he had the disease and was as white as snow.
28 When the others heard this, they became very angry and shouted, “Artemis, the goddess of Ephesus, is great!” 29 The whole city became confused. The people grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, who were from Macedonia and were traveling with Paul, and ran to the theater. 30 Paul wanted to go in and talk to the crowd, but the followers did not let him. 31 Also, some leaders of Asia who were friends of Paul sent him a message, begging him not to go into the theater. 32 Some people were shouting one thing, and some were shouting another. The meeting was completely confused; most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 They put a man named Alexander in front of the people, and some of them told him what to do. Alexander waved his hand so he could explain things to the people. 34 But when they saw that Alexander was a Jew, they all shouted the same thing for two hours: “Great is Artemis of Ephesus!”
35 Then the city clerk made the crowd be quiet. He said, “People of Ephesus, everyone knows that Ephesus is the city that keeps the temple of the great goddess Artemis and her holy stone[a] that fell from heaven. 36 Since no one can say this is not true, you should be quiet. Stop and think before you do anything. 37 You brought these men here, but they have not said anything evil against our goddess or stolen anything from her temple. 38 If Demetrius and those who work with him have a charge against anyone they should go to the courts and judges where they can argue with each other. 39 If there is something else you want to talk about, it can be decided at the regular town meeting of the people. 40 I say this because some people might see this trouble today and say that we are rioting. We could not explain this, because there is no real reason for this meeting.” 41 After the city clerk said these things, he told the people to go home.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.