Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

30 I will praise you, Lord, for you have saved me from my enemies. You refuse to let them triumph over me. ² O Lord my God, I pleaded with you, and you gave me my health again. ³ You brought me back from the brink of the grave, from death itself, and here I am alive!

⁴ Oh, sing to him you saints of his; give thanks to his holy name. ⁵ His anger lasts a moment; his favor lasts for life! Weeping may go on all night, but in the morning there is joy.

^6-7 In my prosperity I said, “This is forever; nothing can stop me now! The Lord has shown me his favor. He has made me steady as a mountain.” Then, Lord, you turned your face away from me and cut off your river of blessings.^[a] Suddenly my courage was gone; I was terrified and panic-stricken. ⁸ I cried to you, O Lord; oh, how I pled: ⁹ “What will you gain, O Lord, from killing me? How can I praise you then to all my friends? How can my dust in the grave speak out and tell the world about your faithfulness? ¹⁰ Hear me, Lord; oh, have pity and help me.” ¹¹ Then he turned my sorrow into joy! He took away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy ¹² so that I might sing glad praises to the Lord instead of lying in silence in the grave. O Lord my God, I will keep on thanking you forever!

²¹ “If he is so poor that he cannot afford two lambs, then he shall bring only one, a male lamb for the guilt offering, to be presented to the Lord in the rite of atonement by waving it before the altar; and only three quarts of fine white flour, mixed with olive oil, for a grain offering, and a pint of olive oil.

²² “He shall also bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons—whichever he is able to afford—and use one of the pair for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ²³ He shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle on the eighth day, for his ceremony of cleansing before the Lord. ²⁴ The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, and the pint of oil, and wave them before the altar as a gesture of offering to the Lord. ²⁵ Then he shall kill the lamb for the guilt offering and smear some of its blood upon the tip of the man’s right ear—the man on whose behalf the ceremony is being performed—and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the big toe of his right foot.

²⁶ “The priest shall then pour the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand, ²⁷ and with his right finger he is to sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord. ²⁸ Then he must put some of the olive oil from his hand upon the tip of the man’s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big toe of his right foot, just as he did with the blood of the guilt offering. ²⁹ The remaining oil in his hand shall be placed upon the head of the man being cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord.

³⁰ “Then he must offer the two turtledoves or two young pigeons (whichever pair he is able to afford). ³¹ One of the pair is for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, to be sacrificed along with the grain offering; and the priest shall make atonement for the man before the Lord.”

³² These, then, are the laws concerning those who are cleansed of leprosy but are not able to bring the sacrifices normally required for the ceremony of cleansing.

⁶ Jesus now proceeded to Bethany, to the home of Simon the leper. ⁷ While he was eating, a woman came in with a bottle of very expensive perfume and poured it over his head.

^8-9 The disciples were indignant. “What a waste of good money,” they said. “Why, she could have sold it for a fortune and given it to the poor.”

¹⁰ Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why are you criticizing her? For she has done a good thing to me. ¹¹ You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me. ¹² She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. ¹³ And she will always be remembered for this deed. The story of what she has done will be told throughout the whole world, wherever the Good News is preached.”