Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

41 God blesses those who are kind to the poor. He helps them out of their troubles. ² He protects them and keeps them alive; he publicly honors them and destroys the power of their enemies. ³ He nurses them when they are sick and soothes their pains and worries.^[a]

⁴ “O Lord,” I prayed, “be kind and heal me, for I have confessed my sins.” ⁵ But my enemies say, “May he soon die and be forgotten!” ⁶ They act so friendly when they come to visit me while I am sick; but all the time they hate me and are glad that I am lying there upon my bed of pain. And when they leave, they laugh and mock. ⁷ They whisper together about what they will do when I am dead. ⁸ “It’s fatal, whatever it is,” they say. “He’ll never get out of that bed!”

⁹ Even my best friend has turned against me—a man I completely trusted; how often we ate together. ¹⁰ Lord, don’t you desert me! Be gracious, Lord, and make me well again so I can pay them back! ¹¹ I know you are pleased with me because you haven’t let my enemies triumph over me. ¹² You have preserved me because I was honest; you have admitted me forever to your presence.

¹³ Bless the Lord, the God of Israel, who exists from everlasting ages past—and on into everlasting eternity ahead. Amen and amen!

38 It was just before all this that Hezekiah became deathly sick, and Isaiah the prophet (Amoz’ son) went to visit him and gave him this message from the Lord:

“Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die; you will not recover from this illness.”

² When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed:

³ “O Lord, don’t you remember how true I’ve been to you and how I’ve always tried to obey you in everything you said?” Then he broke down with great sobs.

⁴ So the Lord sent another message to Isaiah:

⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah that the Lord God of your forefather David hears you praying and sees your tears and will let you live fifteen more years. ⁶ He will deliver you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend you, says the Lord, ⁷ and here is my guarantee: ⁸ I will send the sun backwards ten degrees as measured on Ahaz’s sundial!”

So the sun retraced ten degrees that it had gone down!

⁷ Let God train you, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children. Whoever heard of a son who was never corrected? ⁸ If God doesn’t punish you when you need it, as other fathers punish their sons, then it means that you aren’t really God’s son at all—that you don’t really belong in his family. ⁹ Since we respect our fathers here on earth, though they punish us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to God’s training so that we can begin really to live?

¹⁰ Our earthly fathers trained us for a few brief years, doing the best for us that they knew how, but God’s correction is always right and for our best good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹ Being punished isn’t enjoyable while it is happening—it hurts! But afterwards we can see the result, a quiet growth in grace and character.

¹² So take a new grip with your tired hands, stand firm on your shaky legs, ¹³ and mark out a straight, smooth path for your feet so that those who follow you, though weak and lame, will not fall and hurt themselves but become strong.