Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
41 How blessed is he who (A)considers the [a]helpless;
The Lord will deliver him (B)in a day of [b]trouble.
2 The Lord will (C)protect him and keep him alive,
And he shall [c]be called (D)blessed upon the earth;
And (E)do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You [d]restore him to health.
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
(F)Heal my soul, for (G)I have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies (H)speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And [e]when he comes to see me, he (I)speaks [f]falsehood;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they (J)devise my hurt, saying,
8 “A wicked thing is poured out [g]upon him,
That when he lies down, he will (K)not rise up again.”
9 Even my (L)close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But You, O Lord, be gracious to me and (M)raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that (N)You are pleased with me,
Because (O)my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, (P)You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me (Q)in Your presence forever.
13 (R)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and (A)have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 (B)If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 14 (C)and My people [a]who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 (D)Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the [b]prayer offered in this place. 16 For (E)now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 18 then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘[c](F)You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’
19 “(G)But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 (H)then I will uproot you from My land which I have given [d]you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it (I)a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘(J)Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22 And they will say, ‘Because (K)they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.’”
2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I (A)was very glad when (B)brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you (C)are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than [a]this, to hear of (D)my children (E)walking in the truth.
5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the (F)brethren, and [b]especially when they are (G)strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to (H)send them on their way in a manner (I)worthy of God. 7 For they went out for the sake of (J)the Name, (K)accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to [c]support such men, so that we may [d]be fellow workers [e]with the truth.
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