Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁸ “Do not remember the things that have happened before. Do not think about the things of the past. ¹⁹ See, I will do a new thing. It will begin happening now. Will you not know about it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. ²⁰ The wild animals will honor Me, the wild dogs and the ostriches. For I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people. ²¹ The people whom I made for Myself will make known My praise.

²² “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob! You have become tired of Me, O Israel! ²³ You have not brought the sheep of your burnt gifts to Me in worship. You have not honored Me with your gifts on the altar. I have not made you bring gifts or special perfume to Me. ²⁴ You have not bought Me any sweet smelling plants with money. And you have not given Me the fat of your gifts on the altar. Instead you have put the weight of your sins upon Me. You have made Me tired with your wrong-doing.

²⁵ “I, even I, am the One Who takes away your sins because of Who I am. And I will not remember your sins.

Prayer of a Sick Man about False Friends

41 Happy is the man who cares for the poor. The Lord will save him in times of trouble. ² The Lord will keep him alive and safe. And he will be happy upon the earth. You will not give him over to the desire of those who hate him. ³ The Lord will give him strength on his bed of sickness. When he is sick, You will make him well again.

⁴ As for me, I said, “O Lord, have loving-kindness for me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.” ⁵ Those who hate me speak bad words against me, saying, “When will he die, and his name be forgotten?” ⁶ When one comes to see me, he speaks lies. His heart gathers up bad stories. Then he goes outside and tells them. ⁷ All who hate me speak in secret together against me. They make plans to hurt me, saying, ⁸ “A bad thing has come over him. When he lies down, he will not rise again.” ⁹ Even a friend of mine whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has turned against me.

¹⁰ Have loving-kindness for me, O Lord. Raise me up, so that I may pay them back. ¹¹ Then I will know that You are pleased with me, because he who hates me does not win over me. ¹² As for me, You hold me up in my honesty. And You set me beside You forever.

¹³ Honor be to the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever! Let it be so!

¹⁸ As God is true, my yes means yes. I am not the kind of person who says one thing and means another. ¹⁹ Timothy and Silvanus and I have preached to you about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Him there is no yes and no. In Him is yes. ²⁰ Jesus says yes to all of God’s many promises. It is through Jesus that we say, “Let it be so,” when we give thanks to God. ²¹ God is the One Who makes our faith and your faith strong in Christ. He has set us apart for Himself. ²² He has put His mark on us to show we belong to Him. His Spirit is in our hearts to prove this.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Was Let Down through the Roof of a House ^(A)

2 After some days Jesus went back to the city of Capernaum. Then news got around that He was home. ² Soon many people gathered there. There was no more room, not even at the door. He spoke the Word of God to them. ³ Four men came to Jesus carrying a man who could not move his body. ⁴ These men could not get near Jesus because of so many people. They made a hole in the roof of the house over where Jesus stood. Then they let down the bed with the sick man on it.

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the sick man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Some teachers of the Law were sitting there. They thought to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this Man talk like this? He is speaking as if He is God! Who can forgive sins? Only One can forgive sins and that is God!”

⁸ At once Jesus knew the teachers of the Law were thinking this. He said to them, “Why do you think this in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier to say to the sick man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your bed, and start to walk?’ ¹⁰ I am doing this so you may know the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.” He said to the sick man who could not move his body, ¹¹ “I say to you, ‘Get up. Take your bed and go to your home.’” ¹² At once the sick man got up and took his bed and went away. Everybody saw him. They were all surprised and wondered about it. They thanked God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”