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.
Hezekiah Healed
38 (A)In those days Hezekiah became [a]mortally ill. And (B)Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘(C)Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “(D)Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have (E)walked before You in truth and with a (F)whole heart, and (G)have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah (H)wept [b]bitterly.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add (I)fifteen years to your [c]life. 6 I will (J)deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”’
7 “This shall be the (K)sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken: 8 Behold, I will (L)cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the (M)sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.
7 It is for discipline that you endure; (A)God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, (B)of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had [a]earthly fathers to discipline us, and we (C)respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to (D)the Father of [b]spirits, and (E)live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, (F)so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline (G)for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the (H)peaceful fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore, [c](I)strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and (J)make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather (K)be healed.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.