Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer of Thanksgiving[a]
30 I praise you, Lord, because you have saved me
and kept my enemies from gloating over me.
2 I cried to you for help, O Lord my God,
and you healed me;
3 you kept me from the grave.
I was on my way to the depths below,[b]
but you restored my life.
4 Sing praise to the Lord,
all his faithful people!
Remember what the Holy One has done,
and give him thanks!
5 His anger lasts only a moment,
his goodness for a lifetime.
Tears may flow in the night,
but joy comes in the morning.
6 I felt secure and said to myself,
“I will never be defeated.”
7 You were good to me, Lord;
you protected me like a mountain fortress.
But then you hid yourself from me,
and I was afraid.
8 I called to you, Lord;
I begged for your help:
9 “What will you gain from my death?
What profit from my going to the grave?
Are dead people able to praise you?
Can they proclaim your unfailing goodness?
10 Hear me, Lord, and be merciful!
Help me, Lord!”
11 You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance;
you have taken away my sorrow
and surrounded me with joy.
12 So I will not be silent;
I will sing praise to you.
Lord, you are my God;
I will give you thanks forever.
21 If you are poor and cannot afford any more, you shall bring for your purification only one male lamb as your repayment offering, a special gift to the Lord for the priest. You shall bring only two pounds of flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering and half a pint of olive oil. 22 You shall also bring two doves or two pigeons, one for the sin offering and one for the burnt offering. 23 On the eighth day of your purification you shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent. 24 The priest shall take the lamb and the olive oil and present them as a special gift to the Lord for the priest. 25 He shall kill the lamb and take some of the blood and put it on the lobe of your right ear, on the thumb of your right hand, and on the big toe of your right foot. 26 The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand 27 and with a finger of his right hand sprinkle some of it seven times there in the Lord's presence. 28 He shall put some of the oil on the same places he put the blood: on the lobe of your right ear, on the thumb of your right hand, and on the big toe of your right foot. 29 The rest of the oil that is in his palm he shall put on your head and in this way perform the ritual of purification. 30 Then he shall offer one of the doves or pigeons 31 as the sin offering and the other as the burnt offering with the grain offering. In this way the priest shall perform the ritual of purification. 32 This is the law for those who have a dreaded skin disease but who cannot afford the normal offerings required for his purification.
Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany(A)
6 Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, a man who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease. 7 (B)While Jesus was eating, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar filled with an expensive perfume, which she poured on his head. 8 The disciples saw this and became angry. “Why all this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold for a large amount and the money given to the poor!”
10 Jesus knew what they were saying, and so he said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? It is a fine and beautiful thing that she has done for me. 11 (C)You will always have poor people with you, but you will not always have me. 12 What she did was to pour this perfume on my body to get me ready for burial. 13 Now, I assure you that wherever this gospel is preached all over the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.