Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 61

To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. [A Psalm] of David.

¹ Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.

² From the end of the earth will I cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed and fainting; lead me to the rock that is higher than I [yes, a rock that is too high for me].

³ For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me, a strong tower against the adversary.

⁴ I will dwell in Your tabernacle forever; let me find refuge and trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁵ For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear, revere, and honor Your name.

⁶ May You prolong the [true] ^[a]King’s life [adding days upon days], and may His years be to the last generation [of this world and the generations of the world to come].

⁷ May He sit enthroned forever before [the face of] God; O ordain that loving-kindness and faithfulness may watch over Him!

⁸ So will I sing praise to Your name forever, paying my vows day by day.

9 And David said, Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?

² And of the house of Saul there was a servant whose name was Ziba. When they had called him to David, he said to him, Are you Ziba? He said, I, your servant, am he.

³ The king said, Is there not still someone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the [unfailing, unsought, unlimited] mercy and kindness of God? Ziba replied, Jonathan has yet a son who is lame in his feet.^(A)

⁴ And the king said, Where is he? Ziba replied, He is in the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.

⁵ Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel at Lo-debar.

⁶ And Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, Mephibosheth! And he answered, Behold your servant!

⁷ David said to him, Fear not, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father [grandfather], and you shall eat at my table always.

⁸ And [the cripple] bowed himself and said, What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I am?

⁹ Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, I have given your master’s son [grandson] all that belonged to Saul and to all his house.

¹⁰ And you shall till the land for him, you, your sons, and your servants, and you shall bring in the produce, that your master’s heir may have food to eat; but Mephibosheth, your master’s son [grandson], shall eat always at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, Your servant will do according to all my lord the king commands. So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table as one of the king’s sons.

¹² Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in Ziba’s house were servants to Mephibosheth.

¹³ So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table, [even though] he was lame in both feet.

15 Now the tax collectors and [notorious and ^[a]especially wicked] sinners were all coming near to [Jesus] to listen to Him.

² And the Pharisees and the scribes kept muttering and indignantly complaining, saying, This man accepts and receives and welcomes [^[b]preeminently wicked] sinners and eats with them.

³ So He told them this parable:

⁴ What man of you, if he has a hundred sheep and should lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness (desert) and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?

⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his [own] shoulders, rejoicing.

⁶ And when he gets home, he summons together [his] friends and [his] neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep which was lost.

⁷ Thus, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one [^[c]especially] wicked person who repents (^[d]changes his mind, abhorring his errors and misdeeds, and determines to enter upon a better course of life) than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance.