Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
18 “Do not remember the past events,
pay no attention to things of old.(A)
19 Look, I am about to do something new;(B)
even now it is coming. Do you not see it?
Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness,(C)
rivers[a] in the desert.
20 The animals of the field will honor Me,
jackals and ostriches,
because I provide water in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert,(D)
to give drink to My chosen people.
21 The people I formed for Myself
will declare My praise.(E)
22 “But Jacob, you have not called on Me,
because, Israel, you have become weary of Me.(F)
23 You have not brought Me your sheep for burnt offerings
or honored Me with your sacrifices.(G)
I have not burdened you with offerings
or wearied you with incense.[b]
24 You have not bought Me aromatic cane with silver,
or satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened Me with your sins;
you have wearied Me(H) with your iniquities.(I)
Psalm 41
Victory in Spite of Betrayal
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Happy is one who cares for the poor;
the Lord will save him in a day of adversity.(A)
2 The Lord will keep him and preserve him;
he will be blessed in the land.(B)
You will not give him over to the desire of his enemies.(C)
3 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed;
You will heal him on the bed where he lies.(D)
4 I said, “Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against You.”(E)
5 My enemies speak maliciously about me:
“When will he die and be forgotten?”(F)
6 When one of them comes to visit, he speaks deceitfully;
he stores up evil in his heart;
he goes out and talks.(G)
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they plan to harm me.(H)
8 “Lethal poison has been poured into him,
and he won’t rise again from where he lies!”(I)
9 Even my friend[a] in whom I trusted,
one who ate my bread,
has raised his heel against me.(J)
10 But You, Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up;
then I will repay them.(K)
11 By this I know that You delight in me:(L)
my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.(M)
12 You supported me because of my integrity(N)
and set me in Your presence forever.(O)
13 May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and amen.(P)
18 As God is faithful,(A) our message to you is not “Yes and no.” 19 For the Son of God,(B) Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus[a](C) and Timothy—did not become “Yes and no”; on the contrary, a final “Yes” has come in Him.(D) 20 For every one of God’s promises(E) is “Yes” in Him. Therefore, the “Amen”(F) is also spoken through Him by us for God’s glory.(G) 21 Now it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed(H) us. 22 He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment(I) in our hearts.(J)
The Son of Man Forgives and Heals
2 When(A) He entered Capernaum(B) again after some days, it was reported that He was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the message(C) to them. 3 Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic,(D) carried by four men. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to[a] Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
5 Seeing their faith,(E) Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins(F) are forgiven.”(G)
6 But some of the scribes(H) were sitting there, thinking(I) to themselves:[b] 7 “Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming!(J) Who can forgive(K) sins(L) but God alone?”(M)
8 Right away(N) Jesus understood in His spirit(O) that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?[c] 9 Which is easier:(P) to say to the paralytic,(Q) ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’?(R) 10 But so you may know that the Son of Man(S) has authority(T) on earth to forgive sins,”(U) He told the paralytic, 11 “I tell you: get up,(V) pick up your mat, and go home.”
12 Immediately he got up, picked up the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded(W) and gave glory(X) to God,(Y) saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”(Z)
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