Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Morning Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. For flutes. A psalm of David.
5 Lord, listen to my words.
Understand my sadness.
2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
because I pray to you.
3 Lord, every morning you hear my voice.
Every morning, I tell you what I need,
and I wait for your answer.
4 You are not a God who is pleased with the wicked;
you do not live with those who do evil.
5 Those people who make fun of you cannot stand before you.
You hate all those who do evil.
6 You destroy liars;
the Lord hates those who kill and trick others.
7 Because of your great love,
I can come into your Temple.
Because I fear and respect you,
I can worship in your holy Temple.
8 Lord, since I have many enemies,
show me the right thing to do.
Show me clearly how you want me to live.
A Prophet Speaks Against Ahab
35 One prophet from one of the groups of prophets told another, “Hit me!” He said this because the Lord had commanded it, but the other man refused. 36 The prophet said, “You did not obey the Lord’s command, so a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” When the man left, a lion found him and killed him.
37 The prophet went to another man and said, “Hit me, please!” So the man hit him and hurt him. 38 The prophet wrapped his face in a cloth so no one could tell who he was. Then he went and waited by the road for the king. 39 As Ahab king of Israel passed by, the prophet called out to him. “I went to fight in the battle,” the prophet said. “One of our men brought an enemy soldier to me. Our man said, ‘Guard this man. If he runs away, you will have to give your life in his place. Or, you will have to pay a fine of seventy-five pounds of silver.’ 40 But I was busy doing other things, so the man ran away.”
The king of Israel answered, “You have already said what the punishment is. You must do what the man said.”
41 Then the prophet quickly took the cloth from his face. When the king of Israel saw him, he knew he was one of the prophets. 42 The prophet said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You freed the man I said should die, so your life will be taken instead of his. The lives of your people will also be taken instead of the lives of his people.’”
43 Then King Ahab went back to his palace in Samaria, angry and upset.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
17 One day as Jesus was teaching the people, the Pharisees and teachers of the law from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem were there. The Lord was giving Jesus the power to heal people. 18 Just then, some men were carrying on a mat a man who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him in and put him down before Jesus. 19 But because there were so many people there, they could not find a way in. So they went up on the roof and lowered the man on his mat through the ceiling into the middle of the crowd right before Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Jewish teachers of the law and the Pharisees thought to themselves, “Who is this man who is speaking as if he were God? Only God can forgive sins.”
22 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why are you thinking these things? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, stand up, take your mat, and go home.”
25 At once the man stood up before them, picked up his mat, and went home, praising God. 26 All the people were fully amazed and began to praise God. They were filled with much respect and said, “Today we have seen amazing things!”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.