Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Morning Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. For flutes. A song of David.
5 Lord, listen to my words.
Understand what I am thinking.
2 Listen to my cry for help.
My king and my God, I pray to you.
3 Lord, every morning you hear my voice.
Every morning, I tell you what I need.
And I wait for your answer.
4 You are not a God who is pleased with what is wicked.
You do not live with those who do evil.
5 Those people who make fun of you cannot stand before you.
You hate all those who do wrong.
6 You destroy liars.
The Lord hates those who kill and trick others.
7 Because of your great love,
I can come into your Temple.
Because I fear and respect you,
I can worship in your holy Temple.
8 Lord, since I have many enemies,
show me the right thing to do.
Show me clearly how you want me to live.
A Prophet Speaks Against Ahab
35 One of the prophets told another prophet, “Hit me!” He told him to do this because the Lord had commanded it. But the other prophet refused. 36 So the first prophet said, “You did not obey the Lord’s command. So a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” When the second prophet left, a lion found him and killed him.
37 The first prophet went to another man and said, “Hit me, please!” So the man hit him and hurt him. 38 Then the prophet wrapped his face in a cloth. This way no one could tell who he was. Then he went and waited by the road for the king. 39 As Ahab king of Israel passed by, the prophet called out to him. The prophet said, “I went to fight in the battle. One of our men brought an enemy soldier to me. Our man said, ‘Guard this man. If he runs away, you will have to give your life in his place. Or, you will have to pay a fine of 75 pounds of silver.’ 40 But I became busy doing other things. So the man ran away.”
The king of Israel answered, “You have said what the punishment is. You must do what the man said.”
41 Then the prophet quickly took the cloth from his face. When the king of Israel saw him, he knew he was one of the prophets. 42 Then the prophet said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You set free the man I said should die. So your life will be taken in his place. And the lives of your people will be taken in place of the lives of his people.’”
43 Then the king went back to his palace in Samaria. He was angry and upset.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
17 One day Jesus was teaching the people. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were there, too. They had come from every town in Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. The Lord was giving Jesus the power to heal people. 18 There was a man who was paralyzed. Some men were carrying him on a mat. They tried to bring him in and put him down before Jesus. 19 But because there were so many people there, they could not find a way to Jesus. So the men went up on the roof and made a hole in the ceiling. They lowered the mat so that the paralyzed man was lying right before Jesus. 20 Jesus saw that these men believed. So he said to the sick man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Jewish teachers of the law and the Pharisees thought to themselves, “Who is this man? He is saying things that are against God! Only God can forgive sins.”
22 But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said, “Why do you have thoughts like that in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, stand up! Take your mat and go home.”
25 Then the man stood up before the people there. He picked up his mat and went home, praising God. 26 All the people were fully amazed and began to praise God. They were filled with much respect and said, “Today we have seen amazing things!”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.